Court to deliver ruling in Bainimarama and Qiliho's case tomorrow

Suva Magistrate Seini Puamau will deliver her ruling in former Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended Police Commissioner, Brigadier General Sitiveni Qiliho’s trial, tomorrow.

She says the ruling on the no case to answer application by the defence counsel is not ready yet.

Meanwhile, Magistrate Puamau also highlighted that she is not pleased how full her courtroom is.

She says it is unsafe, potentially uncomfortable and this is because the members of the media in the middle of the trial or towards the end raised with the Chief Registrar the fact that they do not have space to sit.

Magistrate Puamau says if the defendants and their family and all other interested members of the public can be in court an hour before to find a seat, then why can the media be not.

She says the media are not special class, they are an important part but so to are the defendants and the members of the public.

Magistrate Puamau says this is not a circus, it is a court of law.

She then adjourned the case to 3pm tomorrow.

Another bench was placed in the courtroom before the matter was called to allow more people to sit. 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.