Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption deputy commissioner Rashmi Aslam says Niko Nawaikula exploited his own culture to defend himself.
He said this while making his closing statement in the trial of Opposition MP Niko Nawaikula in the Anti-Corruption Division of the High Court of Fiji.
Mr Aslam said the defence that Buca Village would always be Niko Nawaikula’s permanent residence because of his connection to the vanua, was using cultural exploitation to justify Mr Nawaikula’s criminal activity, and that there would be practical issues if the court considered it.
He said if that definition of permanent address was applied to the Parliamentary Remuneration Act then every iTaukei MP whose village was located 30 kilometres away from Government Buildings in Suva would be entitled to claim travel, meal and accommodation allowances as stipulated by the Parliamentary Remunerations Act 2014.
He also said there needed to be evidence that a person had changed his address and that merely stating so was not enough.
Mr Aslam submitted that without attempting to define a permanent residence, the court need only apply the evidence as adduced by FICAC and the simple terms, permanent and residence.
He said they were non-complex English words and were not legal terms – strictly speaking. He also said anyone should have understood the definition of a permanent residence and that there was no complexity in it.
He said Mr Nawaikula owned a property and had a home at Koronivia, and that 99 year term of the lease was long enough within a lifetime period for a person to live permanently.
Justice Dr Thushara Kumarage said he expected to deliver his judgment on either Friday, April 29, or Monday, May 2.
