The court hearing regarding the abuse of office charge against former Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum was postponed yesterday. The session was meant to address the State prosecution’s response to the defense’s challenge of the charge approved by former Acting Director of Public Prosecutions John Rabuku. The postponement occurred because all magistrates are attending a conference in Suva this week.
The case has been rescheduled for next Tuesday at the Suva Magistrate’s Court, where Magistrate Yogesh Prasad will preside. As the hearing is pending, the prosecution’s request to consolidate the files for both accused individuals will be temporarily suspended.
In a related matter, Sayed-Khaiyum will not attend the next court session. Magistrate Joji Boseiwaqa approved this request during the proceedings concerning Sayed-Khaiyum and former Supervisor of Elections, Mohammed Saneem, who are both facing charges of abuse of office. Sayed-Khaiyum is accused of signing a Deed of Variation and Addendum between the Government of Fiji and Saneem. Following this agreement, Saneem faces allegations of receiving a corrupt benefit amounting to $55,944.03 related to his back-pay from Sayed-Khaiyum.
Defense attorney Devanesh Sharma requested that Sayed-Khaiyum be excused from attending due to health concerns, and the court granted this request, allowing only Saneem to be present at the next court sitting.