THE trial of former attorney-general Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum and former elections supervisor Mohammed Saneem will begin next Tuesday.
In the meantime, the prosecution said it intends to have the testimony of the Lautoka High Court Master, Preetika Priyadarshni Prasad, taken in a closed court.
Ms Prasad is a former staff member of the A-G’s office.
The prosecution said that due to her current status, it wished to avoid any inferences stemming from her testimony as she was one of 20 State witnesses in the trial.
This was relayed by prosecutor Hezekiah Nofaga to Chief Justice Salesi Temo yesterday ahead of trial, which is scheduled to begin next Tuesday, September 16.
Between June 30 and July 12, 2022, it is claimed Mr Sayed-Khaiyum, while serving as acting Prime Minister, signed a Deed of Variation and Addendum between the Government and the then supervisor of elections, Mr Saneem.
The office of the Director of Public Prosecutions alleges the approval for the Government to pay Mr Saneem’s taxes was done without the proper approval of the Constitutional Offices Commission and the President of Fiji.
In addition, between June 1 and July 31, 2022, Mr Saneem, while employed as supervisor of elections, “without lawful authority and reasonable excuse, asked for, and obtained a benefit for himself, that is, the approval and payment/waiver of tax of more than $55,000 that was charged on his back pay”.
Mr Nofaga said the prosecution would depend on the caution interviews of Mr Sayed-Khaiyum and Mr Saneem.
The defence did not object.
Justice Temo indicated he would prefer three State witnesses to testify each day.
Defence lawyer Devanesh Sharma has yet to indicate whether his clients would choose to remain silent during trial.
