The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions will not appeal the acquittals of former fisheries minister Kalaveti Ravu and a regional fisheries manager.
The ODPP confirmed this to this newspaper yesterday following queries on whether it would challenge the decision of the Suva Magistrate’s Court.
“After considering the facts of the case and the acquittal, the ODPP has decided that we would not be appealing this decision,” the statement read.
Mr Ravu was cleared alongside Tekata Toaisi in January this year after Magistrate Jeremaia Savou found both men not guilty of their respective charges.
Mr Ravu had been accused of interfering in the lawful process of a ministerial investigation into the suspected illegal trade of a banned species of beche-de-mer between July and August 2023. Mr Toaisi faced a charge of aiding the former minister.
The ODPP had been given 28 days from the date of the January judgment to file an appeal.
