Convicted contemnor Aman Ravindra-Singh is applying for a stay of his 10 month prison sentence.
Ravindra-Singh was found guilty of contempt of court by former High Court judge Justice Jude Nanayakkara last year, and left the country a couple of days before he was to be sentenced.
Justice Nanayakkara found him guilty of contempt of court for failing to pay Voreqe Bainimarama and Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum $120,000 in damages for a 2018 case of defamation.
And said he had deliberately used the same defamatory language continuously since it was determined defamatory.
On December 20, 2022, an application for a stay of the proceedings (sentence) and the bench warrant against him, pending an appeal in the Court of Appeal, was filed in the High Court Civil registry at Suva.
The matter was called before High Court judge Justice Samuela Qica on Tuesday.
Suva lawyer Gul Fatima, as counsel for Messrs Bainimarama and Sayed-Khaiyum, said the application was flawed in both law and procedure.
Appearing on instruction of Ravindra-Singh, lawyer Jagath Karunaratne said he had limited instructions.
And that Ravindra-Singh wanted to conduct the matter himself via Zoom.
Ms Fatima said he would need to make a formal application.
The matter will be called on August 1 for hearing.
