Suva magistrate Seini Puamau’s no case to answer ruling in former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho’s case will have a bearing on the case of former attorney-general and FijiFirst party general secretary Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.
The Suva Magistrate’s Court heard this when Mr Sayed-Khaiyum’s matter was called for mention before magistrate Pulekeria Low yesterday.
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum is charged with one count of abuse of office for allegedly signing a deed of variation and addendum while acting as prime minister — between the Government of Fiji and Mr Mohammed Saneem, agreeing to pay his taxes without the proper approval of the Constitutional Offices Commission and the President, in abuse of the authority of his office, an arbitrary act prejudicial to the rights of the Government of Fiji.
His lawyer, Devanesh Sharma, told the court the issue of whether a person was employed in the civil service was a legal issue being considered in the case of Messrs Bainimarama and Qiliho.
Mr Sharma said the question of whether Mr Qiliho was a civil servant related to the case against Mr Sayed-Khaiyum and they were awaiting Ms Puamau’s ruling on the defence’s no case to answer bid in the former PM and suspended police commissioner’s case.
“In the other case we had submitted a no case to answer, the legal issue is whether the second accused in the matter is employed in the civil service, and based on the definition, it is a constitutional argument,” he said.
Mr Sharma confirmed receipt of second phase disclosures from the prosecution.
Assistant DPP Elizabeth Rice said a meeting next week would discuss and narrow the issues in the case and reduce the number of witnesses in the hope of ultimately saving the court’s time.
Ms Low adjourned the matter to October 27 for the parties to work on the agreed facts of the case.
