Former Prime Minister, Laisenia Qarase will appear in the High Court today with a local lawyer as his four week Fijian Holdings trial is set to get underway from tomorrow.
Who will represent Qarase in the trial is yet to be revealed as he was still negotiating with a local lawyer and a Queens Counsel last week.
His lawyer, Qoriniasi Bale has confirmed that he will not represent Qarase and he needs more time to get a lawyer but Justice Fernando said that Justice Daniel Goundar had given 8 months for Qarase to look for a lawyer.
FICAC will be represented by two Hong Kong based Senior Counsels Michael Blanchflower and Elizabeth Yang.
Blanchflower has already informed the Court that FICAC has reduced its original number of witnesses from fourteen to ten and also reduced the bundle of documents that it will be tendering from more than 100 to about sixty eight.
He said this would make FICAC's case against Qarase leaner in order to focus on the main issues.
This is Qarase's first case in relation to Fijian Holdings Limited where it is alleged that he facilitated and allowed the purchase of Class A FHL shares for certain companies when he was Director of FHL, Financial Advisor of the Fijian Affairs Board and Advisor to the Great Council of Chiefs.
The case relates to the allotment and issuance of the FHL shares to Cicia Plantation Co-op Society Limited, Mavana Investments Limited and a family owned company named Q-Ten Investments Limited.
Story by: Vijay Narayan
