Colombian national Aiden Alec Hurtado who was jailed in 2017 for unlawfully importing 20.5kg of cocaine into Fiji in 2014 by the Suva High Court is appealing his conviction and sentence in the Court of Appeal.
Hurtado was sentenced to 13 years and 11 months imprisonment by High Court Judge Justice Thushara Rajasinghe.
While making his oral submission before Justice William Calanchini today, Hurtado’s lawyer Abhay Singh said the trial judge made an error when he overturned the not guilty opinion of the assessors in 2017.
He also said that they had an issue about whether Hurtado’s confession was voluntary as there is evidence that his English was very poor.
Singh also submitted that the sentence should be based on the purity of the drugs.
He has asked the Court of Appeal if leave could be granted on these grounds.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions is represented by Assistant DPP, Doctor Andrew Jack.
Hurtado was retried and convicted in 2017 after the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution successfully appealed his acquittal in 2015.
