Former Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended Police Commissioner Brigadier General Sitiveni Qiliho have been granted bail.
They have pleaded not guilty to a charge each of abuse of office.
They appeared before Magistrate Seini Puamau.
The bail conditions include two sureties to a sum of $10,000 each, they must not individually or through a third party interfere or attempt to interfere with the State's case against the defendants, they must not commit a crime while on bail, surrender their travel documents to the court registry, are prohibited from leaving Fiji and must provide a fixed address and not change it without the courts permission.
Bainimarama’s sureties are Ioane Naivalurua and Viliame Naupoto while Penioni Koliniwai and Jone Usamate are Qiliho’s sureties.
DPP lawyer, Jayneeta Prasad did not object to bail however, asked for strict conditions including curfew from 5pm to 8am, surrendering travel documents, reporting twice a week at the nearest police station, sureties and other conditions such as non interference with witnesses.
Prasad says there are concerns in relation to interference with witnesses as most of the witnesses are police officers.
She says their issues relate to tugging on loyalties, physical and verbal interference.
She says strict conditions to be imposed to mitigate the risk of interference.
Bainimarama and Qiliho’s lawyer, Devanesh Sharma objected to strict bail conditions especially the curfew from 5pm to 8am and says the alleged offence took place in July 2020 and the sense of urgency has passed.
Sharma says he does not see the need to have over the top bail conditions.
Magistrate Puamau told Prasad they have to substantiate with evidence the risk of interference and she cannot follow Prasad's logic.
Prasad requested if the Investigating Officer be produced in court to provide evidence of interference.
While giving evidence, Investigating Officer, Sergeant Sunia Maniala says gathering evidence was hard as they went to higher authorities for documents but it took time and he believed people were reluctant to give evidence.
He says there are a total of 9 pending cases against them at CID and because Qiliho and Bainimarama hold key positions and they sometimes have to question other officers.
When questioned by Magistrate Puamau if Qiliho or Bainimarama called directly to do or not to do something or has anybody filed a report with him or the Police Force regarding interference by the two, Maniala says they had not.
During cross examination, Maniala confirmed there were 30 witnesses in the case whereby 13 were police officers and others were professionals like former Permanent Secretary to the Office of the Prime Minister Yogesh Karan and the Director of Immigration.
He says all 30 statements are with Police.
The charges relate to a complaint laid with the police by the University of the South Pacific in July 2020 in relation to the activities of former staff members of the University.
It is alleged Bainimarama sometime in July, 2020 as the Prime Minister directed the Police Commissioner to stop 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.
DPP has requested police to undertake further investigations into other matters arising from this case and more charges may be laid against other suspects in due course.
Present in court were Opposition MPs Parveen Bala, Premila Kumar, Jone Usamate, Ioane Naivalarua, Faiyaz Koya, Viliame Naupoto, Alvick Maharaj and Bainimarama and Qiliho's families.
The matter has been adjourned to the 11th of May.
Former Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended Police Commissioner Brigadier General Sitiveni Qiliho have pleaded not guilty to a charge each of abuse of office.
They appeared before Magistrate Seini Puamau.
The matter has been stood down for 30 minutes following evidence given by Investigating Officer Sergeant Sunia Maniala on allegations of interference by Bainimarama and Qiliho.
Magistrate Seini Puamau says she will deliver her ruling on bail at about 12.45pm.
The State’s conditions include curfew from 5pm to 8am, surrendering travel documents, reporting twice a week at the nearest police station, sureties and other conditions such as non interference with witnesses.
The charges relate to a complaint laid with the police by the University of the South Pacific in July 2020 in relation to the activities of former staff members of the university.
Bainimarama and Qiliho are alleged to have arbitrarily and in abuse of the authority of their respective offices, terminated an active police investigation.
DPP has requested police to undertake further investigations into other matters arising from this case and more charges may be laid against other suspects in due course.
Present in court are Opposition MPs Parveen Bala, Premila Kumar, Jone Usamate, Ioane Naivalarua, Faiyaz Koya, Viliame Naupoto and Bainimarama and Qiliho's families.
Stay with us for developments.
Former Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended Police Commissioner Brigadier General Sitiveni Qiliho have pleaded not guilty to a charge each of abuse of office.
The matter has been stood down to 11am to allow the State to produce the Investigating Officer in the case and get evidence from him to substantiate the fear of interference by Bainimarama and Qiliho.
They appeared before Magistrate Seini Puamau.
DPP lawyer, Jayneeta Prasad says there are concerns in relation to interference with witnesses as most of the witnesses are police officers.
She says their issues relate tugging on loyalties, physical and verbal interference.
Prasad also says they do not have an issue with granting bail but strict conditions must be imposed to mitigate the risk of interference including handing over travel documents, sureties, reporting requirements and curfew from 5am to 8pm.
Magistrates Puamau says if they have an affidavit evidence then these strict conditions would be considered.
While objecting to strict bail conditions, Bainimarama and Qiliho's lawyer, Devanesh Sharma says the alleged offence took place in July 2020 and the sense of urgency has passed.
He says they are not young boys so that curfews must be imposed.
Sharma says he does not see the need to have over the top bail conditions.
Magistrate Puamau says they have to substantiate with evidence the risk of interference and she cannot follow Prasad's logic.
The charges relate to a complaint laid with the police by the University of the South Pacific in July 2020 in relation to the activities of former staff members of the university.
Bainimarama and Qiliho are alleged to have arbitrarily and in abuse of the authority of their respective offices, terminated an active police investigation.
DPP has requested police to undertake further investigations into other matters arising from this case and more charges may be laid against other suspects in due course.
Present in court are Opposition MPs Parveen Bala, Premila Kumar, Jone Usamate, Ioane Naivalarua, Faiyaz Koya, Viliame Naupoto and Bainimarama and Qiliho's families.
Stay with us for developments.
The lawyers of former Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended Police Commissioner Brigadier General Sitiveni Qiliho, Devanesh Sharma and Gul Fatima and supporters have arrived at court premises.
DPP is yet to file the charge with the Magistrates Court Registry.
Bainimarama and Qiliho have not been brought to court yet.
They have been charged with abuse of office.
The charges relate to a complaint laid with the police by the University of the South Pacific in July 2019 in relation to the activities of former staff members of the university.
The DPP says Bainimarama and Qiliho are alleged to have arbitrarily and in abuse of the authority of their respective offices, terminated an active police investigation. The police have also been requested to undertake further investigations into other matters arising from this case and more charges may be laid against other suspects in due course.
The Fiji Police Force reassures all Fijians that there is no reason to be concerned about public safety following the laying of formal charges against the former Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended Commissioner of Police, Sitiveni Qiliho.
Chief Operations Officer Acting ACP Livai Driu says the latest developments have not warranted any need to panic as the security landscape remains calm and manageable.
A/ACP Driu reiterates the Minister for Home Affairs Pio Tikoduadua's statement that no Fijian should be apprehensive about the security of Fiji, as Police have everything under control, and they urge everyone to go about their business as usual.
Meanwhile, Bainimarama and Qiliho have officially been charged with abuse of office and were kept in custody tonight.
Chief of Intelligence and Investigations, Acting ACP Sakeo Raikaci says the two will appear in the Suva Magistrates Court at 8am.
Former Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended Police Commissioner, Sitiveni Qiliho have officially been charged with abuse of office and were kept in custody last night.
Chief of Intelligence and Investigations, Acting ACP Sakeo Raikaci says they will appear in the Suva Magistrates Court at 8am today.
Acting ACP Raikaci says given the seriousness of the charge, they could not grant bail to the two as it is not a bailable offence.
Additional security will be provided for the special court sitting today.
The charges have been sanctioned against Bainimarama and Qiliho.
The maximum penalty for abuse of office is 10 years imprisonment.
The Crimes Act states that if the act is done or directed to be done for gain, then the maximum penalty is 17 years imprisonment.
Director of Public Prosecutions, Christopher Pryde had sanctioned the charges of abuse of office following a review of the police evidence docket.
Pryde says the charges relate to a complaint laid with the police by the University of the South Pacific in July 2019 in relation to the activities of former staff members of the university.
The DPP says Bainimarama and Qiliho are alleged to have arbitrarily and in abuse of the authority of their respective offices, terminated an active police investigation. The police have also been requested to undertake further investigations into other matters arising from this case and more charges may be laid against other suspects in due course.
Bainimarama and Qiliho arrived at around lunch time yesterday while Bainimarama arrived soon after 4pm for further questioning at the CID Headquarters before they were taken to the Totogo Police Station.
Raikaci says the continuation of the questioning was in accordance with the processes to be undertaken before the investigation was finalized.
He says the Police are doing there work without any interference.
Stay with us for developments.
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