All eyes will be on the courts today as the Chief Justice, Salesi Temo, delivers his ruling on the application by lawyer Devanesh Sharma that his clients, the former attorney general and former supervisor of elections, have no case to answer on the charges against them of abuse of office.
Grubsheet is reserving further comment until we know the outcome. But one thing is already certain. This was not the strong case the Acting DPP, Nancy Tikoisuva, said she was outlining at the start of the trial. And there is going to be a great deal of attention paid to Salesi Temo’s ruling.
The state’s principal witness – the current Supervisor of Elections, Ana Mataiciwa – conceded under cross examination that she was unaware of critical facts relating to her original complaint that Devanesh Sharma argues should have prompted the state to drop the charges altogether.
Sharma’s formal application is 43 pages long. And while it is too detailed for the purposes of this posting, the following are his concluding paragraphs:
Here’s today’s preview of the Chief Justice’s ruling in the Fiji Times.
Plus more detailed coverage from CFL-Fiji Village…
And from Fiji Live….
NOTE TO READERS:
Already comments are being disallowed because they prejudge the final outcome of any case.
The only person who is permitted to do this is the Assistant DPP, Laisani Tabuakoro, who doesn’t seem to have been disciplined by the Judge for saying that it is a question of “when”, not “if”, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum is found guilty.
We are not going down the same rabbit hole here.
In court Main complainant Ana showed remorse and was misled by other 2 FEO Staff and withdrew the complaint. Isn’t that enough to throw away the case?
Just re-emphasising what I have posted above in response to some initial comments:
NOTE TO READERS:
Already comments are being disallowed because they prejudge the final outcome of any case.
The only person who is permitted to do this is the Assistant DPP, Laisani Tabuakoro, who doesn’t seem to have been disciplined by the Judge for saying that it is a question of “when”, not “if”, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum is found guilty.
We are not going down the same rabbit hole here.
The State has to produce to the court sufficient evidence to prove, beyond reasonable doubt, that an offence appears to have been committed.
The submission by the defence counsel suggests that the threshold has not been met and that the court should not allow the case to continue.
The CJ decision will be watched carefully, not only by the defendants but also by the legal fraternity in Fiji and the Pacific.
Whatever one thinks of SK and MS (there was no doubt good and not so good in those 16 years), the charges the CJ chases and forces beyond proper process seems like relatively small misdemeanours in comparison to what we have all observed come out of the COI.
Absolutely. Which is why the current attempts to derail the CoI are so scandalous and contemptible. There are reports that both the Fiji Law Society and Graham Leung are about to join Barbara Malimali and the JSC (Temo) in applying for judicial reviews of the CoI findings and recommendations.
The only positive aspect to all of this is that these reviews, if granted, are going to extend into the election year. So the issues at stake will be election issues that are bound to damage the Coalition. Because they go to the heart of the integrity of this government and individuals such as the Chief Justice and the President.
Indeed that is the only positive.
All that money spent on scandalous behaviour instead of food on the table.