Former Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum was rushed to Suva Private Hospital yesterday from court after falling ill and showing signs of pain.
Witnesses reported that Mr. Sayed-Khaiyum clutched his stomach during a court session and was promptly taken to the hospital for treatment by his brother, Riyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, the former CEO of Fiji Broadcasting Corporation.
Details of his condition are not yet known, but it is believed he was visited by former FijiFirst party members last night.
Earlier, Mr. Sayed-Khaiyum appeared before Magistrate Sufia Hamza with his lawyer, Devanesh Sharma, to address some legal issues regarding his bail conditions.
Mr. Sharma cited Section 30 (2) of the Bail Act, which states, “a magistrate may review a decision made by another magistrate, including a reviewing magistrate, in relation to bail.”
This was in reference to an earlier decision by Magistrate Yogesh Prasad to deny Mr. Sayed-Khaiyum’s request to travel to Singapore for medical assessment due to the lack of equipment in the local healthcare system.
Mr. Sharma requested the court to permit his client to travel for medical reasons and to treat this application as a review of the bail decision made by Mr. Prasad.
“A person who has not been convicted of any offence should be allowed to travel for medical purposes,” Mr. Sharma argued.
“Bail is an interlocutory matter and is not related to the substantive matter.”
In response, Assistant DPP Laisani Tabuakuro asserted that Mr. Sharma was attempting to interfere with the judicial assignment of cases, administered by acting Chief Justice Salesi Temo.
Ms. Tabuakuro noted that it was not feasible to ask another magistrate to review a case with which they had no familiarity.
She reminded Magistrate Hamza that she did not have the case file, charge sheet, nor knowledge of the specifics of Mr. Sayed-Khaiyum’s case.
A ruling on these legal issues is expected to be delivered today.