The Suva Magistrates Court has given more time to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to make submissions in No Case to Answer in the trial of former Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended Commissioner of Police, Brigadier-General Sitiveni Qiliho.
Resident-Magistrate Seini Puamau has also asked the Defence Counsel Davenesh Sharma and the Acting Director of Public of Prosecutions Ratu David Toganivalu to make submissions on Count One based on one question.
Puamau said the question is there ever a situation that the Prime Minister is never the Prime Minister, or the Commissioner of Police is never the Commissioner of Police? Does it matter? And whether these types of conversations should ever happen if one holds public offices?
Puamau said that the Court is not trying to undermine the charges; however, she said she understood that there are conversations that should happen and should never happen in public.
She said there are conversations that she is mindful of when she is out in public, also that there are also places that she can go to and not go to, because of her duty as a judicial officer.
Also, Puamau has asked that Toganivalu make his oral submission and that Defence Counsels respond to Toganivalu’s submission on Wednesday.
Bainimarama is charged with a count of attempt to pervert the course of justice, while Qiliho is charged with a count of abuse of office.
It is alleged that Bainimarama sometime in July 2020 as the Prime Minister directed the Police Commissioner to stop the investigation into a police complaint, in the abuse of the authority of his office, which was an arbitrary act prejudicial to the rights of the University of the South Pacific which is the complainant.
It is alleged that Qiliho on the 15th of July 2020 as the Police Commissioner directed the Director of the Criminal Investigations Department, Serupepeli Neiko and Inspector Reshmi Dass to stop investigations into the police complaint by the USP, in the abuse of the authority of his office, which was arbitrary act of prejudicial to the rights to USP.
Bainimarama and Qiliho are represented by R Patel Lawyers Devanesh Sharma and Gul Fatima while Acting Director of Public Prosecutions, Ratu David Toganivalu and Nimisha Shankar are representing the State.
The matter has been adjourned to Wednesday, 2.30pm.
