Update: 5:04PM AN appeal by former Commissioner Central Inoke Devo was dismissed by the Fiji Court of Appeal in Suva today.
Devo who was charged by the Fiji independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) had appealed against his conviction.
He was convicted on the premise that he acted arbitrarily and in abuse of his office by directing the staff and using the official vehicle GM 472 to collect liquor for unofficial purposes in 2005 and 2006.
He was sentenced to nine months imprisonment and having served his sentence, he appealed for his conviction after two years.
The grounds for his appeal were:
– Referring the matter to the assessors for determination when all the circumstances of the case, it was unsafe or unsatisfactory to do so;
– Not adequately directing/misdirecting the assessors on the law relating to the abuse of office; and
– Not directing/misdirecting the assessors that the prosecution evidence before the court demonstrated that there were serious doubts in the prosecution case and such benefit of doubt ought to have been given to the appellant.
In their judgement, a full bench of the Fiji Court of Appeal in Suva consisting of the president of the Court of Appeal, Justice William Calanchini, Justice Don Susantha Lecamwasam and Justice Eric Basnayake agreed that Mr Devo committed arbitrary acts and that guilt had been established beyond reasonable doubt.
