ALLEGATIONS of assault surfaced yesterday when three foreign nationals charged with serious drug-related offences appeared before Senior Magistrate Sufia Hamza at the Magistrate’s Court in Suva.
Dai Ming Hui, Yu Yuan Feng and Zhou Lan, are jointly charged with unlawful possession of 39.5 grams of methamphetamine and suspected proceeds of crime.
Defence counsel Shirley Tivao informed the court that the second accused had allegedly been assaulted by a prison officer identified as Moape while in custody. She further advised that the first and third accused had developed skin rashes during their detention at the remand centre.
Ms Tivao told the court that concerns over the health and safety of the accused prompted the defence to seek medical reports from the remand centre to determine whether further medical treatment was required.
She requested the accused be taken to a police station to enable the lodging of a formal complaint regarding the alleged assault.
In response, the State assisted the court and submitted that defence counsel could lodge the complaint on behalf of the accused.
The defence further requested that medical reports from the remand centre be produced before the next court date.
Magistrate Hamza ordered that the medical reports be made available at the next court appearance and directed the State to follow up with the Fiji Corrections Service to ensure compliance.
State prosecutor Mr Eoghn Samisoni also made an application seeking an order for the second accused to unlock his mobile phone to assist police investigations. The application was noted by the court.
The matter was adjourned to January 14 for mention, with the accused further remanded in custody until the next court date.
