The court proceedings concerning abuse of office charges against former Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum were postponed yesterday. The session was meant to address the State prosecution’s counter to the defense’s challenge regarding the charge authorized by former Acting Director of Public Prosecutions John Rabuku. The delay occurred as all magistrates are participating in a conference in Suva this week.
The application has been rescheduled to next Tuesday at the Suva Magistrate’s Court before Magistrate Yogesh Prasad. Meanwhile, the prosecution’s request to consolidate the files concerning both individuals will be on hold until the case is heard.
In addition, Sayed-Khaiyum will not be present at the next court session. Magistrate Joji Boseiwaqa approved his absence while reviewing the case involving Sayed-Khaiyum and former Supervisor of Elections, Mohammed Saneem, both facing abuse of office allegations. Sayed-Khaiyum is accused of signing a Deed of Variation and Addendum between the Government of Fiji and Saneem, which allegedly led to Saneem receiving a corrupt benefit totaling $55,944.03 from Sayed-Khaiyum’s back-pay.
Defense attorney Devanesh Sharma requested the court excuse Sayed-Khaiyum from attending due to health issues, and the court granted this request, resulting in only Saneem appearing at the upcoming session.