The attorney for former fisheries minister Kalaveti Ravu has yet to receive additional documents requested from the prosecution. In an update, Ravu’s lawyer, Lavi Rokoika, indicated that her request made on August 19 remains unanswered.
Rokoika informed the court that she also asked the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) to reconsider the charges against her client; however, the prosecution intends to proceed with the existing charges. She mentioned that the agreed facts should be ready for filing and serving within 21 days and proposed scheduling a trial date regardless of the disclosures.
On the other hand, FICAC prosecutor Lavenia Ravuikadavu recommended that the pre-trial conference be concluded first, but she did not oppose setting a trial date.
Ravu faces allegations of interfering with a lawful investigation into suspected illegal trade involving a prohibited species of beche-de-mer. Tekata Toaisi, the Ministry of Fisheries and Forests regional manager for the North, has pleaded not guilty to assisting the former minister during the period from July to August of the previous year.
Both men appeared before Magistrate Jeremaia Savou recently and are scheduled to return to the Suva Magistrate’s Court on September 19.