The Office of Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) is currently looking into police complaints involving high-profile individuals.

ODPP in a statement said when the police complete an investigation following a complaint, the file is often sent to the ODPP for further advice or decision on charge and once the file has been received by the ODPP registry, it is allocated to a legal officer to provide a formal advice.

The file is then forwarded to a manager before recommendations are given to the DPP for final decision.

It said sometimes during this process, the file is sent back to the police for further investigation, and sometimes the file is sent back to the legal officer to provide further legal advice on aspects of the evidence and this process can often be time consuming, but it is important that decisions are not rushed and the right decision is made based on the evidence according to the law.

“A charge is only ever filed if there is a reasonable prospect for conviction, and it is in the public interest. “

The following summary is a collation of current police dockets received by the ODPP registry on the following people with current status:

Date received by Registry: 17 February 2023

Voreqe Bainimarama, Sitiveni Qiliho, Mesake Waqa and Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum. Decision to charge Bainimarama and Qiliho for abuse of office on 9 March 2023. Files sent back to police for further investigation on the other two suspects.

Date received by Registry: 27 February 2023

Voreqe Bainimarama

Suspected Charge: Sedition

Allocated to a legal officer, advice completed but returned to legal officer for further

analysis. No decision yet.

Date received by Registry: 4 April 2023

Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum and Mohammed Saneem

Suspected Charge: Bribery