The court proceedings concerning the abuse of office charge against former Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum were postponed yesterday. The session was intended to address the State prosecutor’s response to the defense’s challenge of the charge sanctioned by former Acting Director of Public Prosecutions John Rabuku. The adjournment occurred because all magistrates were attending a conference in Suva this week.
The hearing has been rescheduled for next Tuesday at the Suva Magistrate’s Court, with Magistrate Yogesh Prasad presiding. Until the case is addressed, the prosecution’s request to merge the files for both involved parties has been temporarily suspended.
Additionally, Sayed-Khaiyum will not be present at the upcoming court session. Magistrate Joji Boseiwaqa approved this request while overseeing the abuse of office case involving Sayed-Khaiyum and former Supervisor of Elections, Mohammed Saneem.
Sayed-Khaiyum faces one count of abuse of office, allegedly having signed a Deed of Variation and Addendum between the Government of Fiji and Saneem. This action led to Saneem facing charges for receiving a corrupt payment of $55,944.03 related to his back-pay from Sayed-Khaiyum.
During the proceedings, defense attorney Devanesh Sharma requested that Sayed-Khaiyum be excused due to health concerns. The court granted this request, resulting in only Saneem attending the next session.