The second defence witness in the Fiji Times sedition trial has told the Suva High Court that he got permission to access the computer of Nai Lalakai Editor, Anare Ravula but Ravula was not present when he accessed the computer.
When asked by Ravula’s lawyer Devanesh Sharma if he was sneaking around to access the Ravula’s computer, the Fiji Times IT officer Neeraj Maharaj said yes.
Maharaj said it was his Manager who made the request to access Ravula’s computer.
Ravula’s lawyer then asked Maharaj if he had that written permission from Ravula with him in court. Maharaj said no.
Sharma then asked Maharaj where was Ravula at the time he was trying to access the computer. Maharaj said Ravula was not around.
Sharma also asked Maharaj if he illegally got the screenshot of files on Ravula’s computer. Maharaj said it was a directive from his Manager.
In his cross examination, Assistant DPP Lee Burney asked Maharaj about a computer which was not connected to the Fiji Times system.
Burney referred to it as PC 6 based on the records of the Fiji Times news editing system called Pongrass. Maharaj said PC 6 is an outside computer not from the Fiji Times.
Burney then asked Maharaj what he meant by saying the computer was from outside. Maharaj said the computer was not connected to the Fiji Times internal computer system.
Burney then asked if this was a mystery computer.
Maharaj said something from that computer could have been brought in a USB.
Maharaj stated during his examination by Fred Wesley and Hank Arts’ lawyer Marc Corlett that he had conducted a search on their news editing system called Pongrass to search for Josaia Waqabaca’s letter in Anare Ravula’s file.
Maharaj also said that the letter in question was in Anare Ravula’s profile and was not located in Hank Arts or Fred Wesley’s computer.
The third defence witness Viliame Ravai who is a layout artist also took the stand. Ravai confirmed in court that he did the layout of the Nai Lalakai on the 27th of April, 2016.
He said that Anare Ravula was his supervisor and all letters from letter writers had to be approved by their Editor, Anare Ravula.
While being crossed examined by Ravula’s lawyer Devanesh Sharma, Ravai agreed that a lot of people may have had a hand in editing the letter before it was published.
In the cross examination by the prosecution, Assistant DPP Lee Burney asked the witness if Fred Wesley is the Editor in Chief of the Nai Lalakai.
Ravai said yes and also agreed that Wesley has access to the Nai Lalakai newspaper.
He also said that he would have discussions with Wesley about the layout of the Nai Lalakai.
The case will continue today.
