Jale Baba given suspended sentence

SODELPA's Jale Baba has been given a 11 months prison sentence which has been suspended for 3 years.

Baba had pleaded guilty to publishing falsified Voter Lists and other false information related to a list on Facebook during the 2018 general elections, which he knew was untrue.

While sentencing Baba, Chief Magistrate Usaia Ratuvili says one of the aggravating factors is that Baba’s posts which had a global reach through Baba’s Facebook followers would have the effect (whether Baba intended it or not) of undermining confidence in the Fijian Elections Office and by extension, cast doubt on the upcoming general elections in 2018.

The Chief Magistrate says Baba retracted the posts and made a full public apology after retracting the posts.

Chief Magistrate Ratuvili says that Baba was the campaign director for SDL for the 2001 and 2006 general elections, for the 2014 elections he was involved with the One Fiji Party and for the 2018 elections Baba was involved with SODELPA’s awareness team.