THE High Court in Suva has quashed the conviction and set aside the two-year and 11-month prison sentence imposed on Asaf Ali over a 2015 passport fraud case.
Ali was convicted in November 2023 for conspiracy to defraud by attempting to dishonestly influence immigration officers to issue a Fijian passport.
Justice Thushara Rajasinghe allowed the appeal, ruling that the conviction was unsafe.
Justice Rajasinghe highlighted that the lower court failed to properly evaluate conflicting prosecution evidence regarding how the application form was handled and filled.
The court also noted the unavailability of contemporaneously recorded audio transcripts from the trial.
Citing the decade-long lapse since the alleged 2015 offence, Justice Rajasinghe declined to order a retrial, stating it would prejudice the appellant.
