All eyes are now on the High Court appeal next Wednesday brought by the Acting DPP, John Rabuku, against the sentencing by Resident Magistrate Seini Puamau of Frank Bainimarama and Sitiveni Qiliho.
The speed with which the appeal date has been set has shocked much of the country, coming as it will less than a week after Seini Puamau gave Frank Bainimarama an absolute discharge for perverting the course of justice and Sitiveni Qiliho a $1500 fine for abuse of office. It is even more astonishing when Fiji is in the throes of Easter commemorations and there is precisely one working day (Tuesday) for lawyers for the pair to prepare for the High Court hearing without having to burn the midnight oil over the holydays.
The illegal Acting DPP, John Rabuku, raised eyebrows by announcing the appeal in the immediate aftermath of the sentencing, triggering speculation that the appeal was already prepared in advance. But the focus of opprobrium has now moved to the Acting Chief Justice, Salesi Temo, for setting an appeal date with astonishing haste and taking no notice whatsoever of the Easter holiday. There have been calls for him to recuse himself from hearing the appeal, given that he convicted the ousted Prime Minister and the suspended Police Commissioner after Seini Puamau had originally declared them innocent of the charges against them.
Having declared them “guilty” on appeal and then ordered Seini Paumau to sentence them, Justice Temo is now being asked by the Acting DPP to overturn her decision and sentence them to a far more severe punishment – the maximum sentences laid down for perverting the court of justice and abuse of office that the ODPP originally requested. Which happen to be lengthy jail terms.
The details of the case are again sub judice as the appeal hearing approaches and we are advised that we cannot argue the merits of Seini Puamau’s ruling without falling foul of the law. But we CAN publish her judgment in full and here it is below – sentences for the pair that the Acting DPP argues are manifestly lenient and wrong in law.
Decide for yourself, Fiji. I urge you to take it all in so that you are fully up to speed when the appeal hearing begins on Wednesday.
Grubsheet will not be publishing comments on this because we are taking the week off in the South Island of New Zealand and are shutting down our operation from Saturday as we continue our holiday break after interrupting it for the Nine Media exposure of Zhao Fugang and the Bainimarama-Qiliho sentencings.
In the meantime, vinaka vakalevu, as always, for your support and here’s to better days ahead. Back the week after next.
Reader and comprehender! says
Have read …and was surprised there was so much resources expended on this case.
Such a weak case should not have made it past the first gate!
Admittedly I did not read the second half of the scanned document re defendant #2. … If the prosecution case against defendant #1 was as poor as I read it , it was a waste of time reading further.
I’m thinking the legal standards are below par generally in the content and compilation of this judgement….basic typo and grammatical errors but these are insignificant relative to the thinking that thought this was a case with cast iron evidence for conviction / crucifixion!
Perpetually Disgusted says
Reading this all I want to say to Fiji and its people, be very glad you didn’t have this coalition government during cyclone Winston and Covid-19, many of you might have died of hunger and thirst in your homes.
Pettiness is supreme!
Peter says
So true!!!
Where’s the water? says
Much resources being thrown into this useless case while about 20% of the country is without water to drink.
I hope Sir Richard Naidu is having a great time suckling the Fiji Water pump while common Fijians are asked even to bring own drinking water to Hospitals.
The government has lost the plot and needs to go ASAP if Fiji is to survive. Very soon diarrheal disease outbreaks will rise and government will still be out on this useless case.
I hope Biman and Naidu have a wee bit of shame left in them to say they made a mistake supporting PAP and Sodelpa. They are ruining the present, forget the future, these bloody buggers.
Sasamaki time says
So much resources spent on this case that doesn’t hold anything.
Where is Ahuwalia today?
All this because of a a non-Fijian VC at USP who is already under immense scrutiny by USP itself.
We allow people like Rabuka, Biman (and his choro wife), Siromi, and Rabuku to run wild with this f**k%n case and wasting so much resources.
Fijians must now protest against the hoodwinks like Rabuku. This is simply wrong. The taxpayers are paying hefty for Rabuku and the swines in the legal office. The racist bastards need to go. We have had enough.
Children are living in poverty.
The country has no water.
What the actual shit are they pumping energy on!
Call for fresh elections
John Vincent says
Having voted for Sodelpa I can tell you only one thing. Never again.
This is below me.
Josh says
FIJI WATER PROBLEMS IS NOT 15 MONTHS OLD.16 YEARS IN POWER PEOPLE. WHAT WERE THEY DOING ABOUT IT.WE CAN’T EXPECT COALITION TO FIX AGING PIPES OVERNIGHT.16 YEARS PÉOPLE.THINK .
Ashamed says
The case being a witch-hunt Bainimarama will and is gaining more sympathy my the day I tell you that ! For those of us hoping for a change in govt so we could have some escape from ASK, jeez maybe we need them as opposed to Rabuka and his evil vengeful personality ! His painful to the eyes to see and like Manoa Kamikamica need to realize that Fiji deserves to be represented by fit, young and good looking people who also have beautiful brains as an asset! Not their wrinkled hobbling self’s!!
GD the country has turned especially when Bainimarama was given an absolute discharge ! There is a renewed determination by people to detest Rabuka because it’s clear the appeal on the same evening of the judgement by Puamau indicates they want Bainimarama’s blood and won’t stop at anything less!!
Now Rabuka, he goes to jail next week and you can expect to go next !! Think we joking ? Wait and see !! It’s the can of worms you open yourself !
Safe Holidays says
GD have a good break.
Fiji will wait for your return.
This is the only news from Fiji that many read. And that of Fiji Leaks.
Happy Easter.
Justice seeker says
The dimwits at DPP led by the illegal acting DPP are so incompetent that they don’t even realise that if you file an appeal so quickly it proves that you are conducting a political witchunt against a person. When they had 28 days to appeal, why appeal on the same day? Won’t due process have meant that other pending cases that were to be appealed should have been appealed first? Why the special attention to this one?
Well, the ethnic cleansing at DPP under the ethnonationalist Rabuku has reduced the institution to this piteous state.
What have Rambo and Siromi done to this country’s institutions in such a short term!
KaiViti says
I do not like both men, Bainimarama and Qiliho but this case is weak. The evidences are weak. I’m not even a legal expert but by reading the sentencing documents I can say that the evidences are evidently weak. Mr Rabuku and the CID should have known better. Why waste time and money on appealing for a weak case. Mr Rabuku is a disgrace to the State.
Poor governance says
So much has been alleged regarding ethnic cleansing in public offices since this guvmnt came into power.
Now that they have been in power for well over a year, this would be a good time to compare the composition of staff in key institutions, between the Bai/Kai guvmnt and the current circus.
The DPP’s office would be a good place to start since they’re currently under public spotlight.
Can anyone provide photographs of the DPP team under Pryde and the current team under Rabuku, and then let the public decide what is what?