Former lawyer Shazran Abdul Lateef will remain in prison pending the determination of his substantive appeal against his methamphetamine and marijuana conviction after the High Court found no exceptional circumstances warranted his release on bail.
In a ruling delivered yesterday, Justice Pita Bulamainaivalu found that Lateef’s five grounds of appeal, including his claim of double jeopardy, were unlikely to succeed.
Lateef was convicted earlier this year of unlawfully possessing 9.5 grams of methamphetamine and 3.5 grams of marijuana at a Suva hotel in 2019.
The 65-year-old was sentenced to 44 months imprisonment with a non-parole period of 30 months. He has appealed against both his conviction and sentence.
Among the grounds raised, Lateef argued that the trial magistrate failed to properly consider inconsistencies in the evidence of the prosecution’s main witness, Asenaca Balekatuba, whom he described as an uncautioned accomplice whose evidence lacked corroboration.
However, Justice Bulamainaivalu ruled that this ground was unlikely to succeed. Lateef further argued that the proceedings amounted to double jeopardy because the charges had previously been dismissed under the Criminal Procedure Act 2009.
The court also found that argument was unlikely to succeed.
Justice Bulamainaivalu also rejected Lateef’s argument that his medical condition, including suffering a stroke while in prison, provided exceptional circumstances that justified bail pending appeal. The court said that Lateef failed to place any relevant and probative medical documents before the court.
The substantive appeal has been fixed for hearing on July 10.
