The court proceedings regarding the abuse of office charges against former Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum were postponed yesterday. The session was intended to allow the State prosecution to address the defense’s challenge to the charge, which was authorized by former Acting Director of Public Prosecutions John Rabuku.
The adjournment was necessary as all magistrates were attending a conference in Suva that week. The hearing has been rescheduled to next Tuesday at the Suva Magistrate’s Court before Magistrate Yogesh Prasad. Until that time, the prosecution’s request to combine the files related to both cases will be on hold.
In a related matter, it was noted that Sayed-Khaiyum will not attend the next court session. This request was approved by Magistrate Joji Boseiwaqa during a hearing concerning the abuse of office case involving Sayed-Khaiyum and former Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem.
Sayed-Khaiyum, facing one count of abuse of office, is accused of signing a Deed of Variation and Addendum between the Government of Fiji and Saneem. Post this transaction, Saneem was charged with receiving a corrupt benefit amounting to $55,944.03 in back pay from Sayed-Khaiyum.
Defense attorney Devanesh Sharma requested the court to excuse Sayed-Khaiyum’s presence due to health issues, which was granted, resulting in only Saneem appearing at the next session.