Former Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem has lodged formal complaints with the Constitutional Offices Commission (COC) and the Electoral Commission following his acquittal by the Chief Justice on all charges in a criminal case brought against him.
In a statement issued today, Saneem said Chief Justice Salesi Temo found the prosecution, which stemmed from a complaint lodged by the Fiji Elections Office (FEO), was based on a flawed interpretation of a contractual clause that had ceased to exist as a matter of law.
According to Saneem, the Chief Justice held that none of the Fiji Elections Office officials had any business placing a flawed interpretation on the clause and that the referral to Police was unnecessary.
Saneem described the ruling as a complete vindication.
“The Chief Justice has made clear that this prosecution should never have happened. I was prosecuted, detained and dragged through the Magistrates Court and then the High Court on the basis of a misreading of a document by officers who had no business interfering in my contractual affairs,” he said.
“The judgement is a complete vindication, not just of me personally, but of the principle that public officers cannot weaponise their institutional positions against individuals without consequence.”
He confirmed he has lodged a formal complaint with the Constitutional Offices Commission requesting the referral of current Supervisor of Elections Ana Mataiciwa to a tribunal under Section 139(3) of the Constitution.
The complaint raises five allegations, including referring a non-electoral matter to Police instead of following the reporting pathway to FICAC, initiating a complaint based on what the Chief Justice found to be a legally non-existent contractual clause, denying him an opportunity to be heard before the referral, issuing a public media release that allegedly damaged his reputation before investigations were completed, and an alleged conflict of interest in obtaining legal advice.
Saneem has also written to the Electoral Commission seeking the immediate establishment of an Independent Investigation Committee to investigate the conduct of Mataiciwa and three Fiji Elections Office officials—Sanjeeshwar Ram, Romika Devi and Mesake Dawai—whom he says were identified by the Chief Justice as part of the chain of events leading to the unnecessary police referral.
He urged the Electoral Commission to act urgently as Fiji approaches the general election.
“The Fijian Elections Office is the institution that will administer the next general election. Its officers have now been found by the Chief Justice of Fiji, after a full trial on evidence, to have initiated an unnecessary prosecution against a former constitutional officeholder on a legally non-existent basis.”
“The people of Fiji deserve better. They deserve an elections office whose officers are beyond reproach, not one whose conduct has been judicially condemned. The Electoral Commission must act immediately and independently to restore public confidence before it is too late.”
Saneem said he would pursue every available legal, constitutional and institutional avenue to ensure those responsible are held to account.
“Today marks the end of an unjust prosecution. It also marks the beginning of accountability.”
