Acting DPP says Saneem was appointed SOE by Sayed-Khaiyum to ensure his political survival

Acting Director of Public Prosecutions, Nancy Tikoisuva said in the High Court today that the only reason Mohammed Saneem was appointed as Supervisor of Elections was to ensure that Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum’s political survival is secure.

However Sayed-Khaiyum said that it is a nonsensical proposition.

This transpired during the cross examination of Sayed-Khaiyum and Saneem’s abuse of office trial before Chief Justice Salesi Temo.

Tikoisuva said the reason she brings this up is because of Saneem’s employment history, as within two years of his admission to the bar after working in a private law firm he was promoted to Deputy Registrar in 2011.

She says by 2012 Saneem was a Resident Magistrate and within the same year he became the Acting Chief Registrar of the High Court of Fiji.

The Acting DPP says one year after that he became the Permanent Secretary for Justice under Sayed-Khaiyum in 2013 and 2014 and with less than five years of being admitted to the bar, he was the Supervisor of Elections, with no experience of running an election.

She compared Saneem to someone experienced like Jon Apted and Semesa Karavaki, who have extensive experience in the legal fraternity.

Sayed-Khaiyum then responded, saying being the Supervisor of Elections does not mean you would have had to run an elections previously because you need to have good administrative skill sets, and that is proven by Saneem’s track record of running successful elections.

Tikoisuva then interrupted Sayed-Khaiyum saying they are not talking about his accolades now but back then.

The trial continues tomorrow with Saneem taking the stand.