Corrections Officers From 2019 Discharged From Assault Case
Two former and six suspended Fiji Corrections Service officers charged in relation to the assault and death of Seremaia Naidole Momo, a serving prisoner in 2019, have been discharged.
The two former officers are Josefa Boletakibureta, 23, and Apisai Naqama 50.
The six suspended officers are Isei Rakaso, 41, Pita Raikoso, 24, Waisea Sadranu, 42, Josefa Satini, 35, Nemani Vasuvulagi, 28, and Joji Raqamate, 35. The eight officers had pleaded not guilty to the charges.
In court yesterday, the prosecutor from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Sadaf Shameem, filed and served a nolle prosequi to formally discharge the case against the officers.
High Court Judge, Justice Thushara Rajasinghe discharged them and discontinued the matter.
He also seized the bail conditions which were imposed on the officers.
The Charges:
Rakaso, Raikoso, and Boletakibureta were jointly charged with one count of assault causing actual bodily harm.
It was alleged that the trio, on February 20, 2019, at Lami, assaulted Seremaia Momo by punching his face, head, and chest inside the bathroom of the cell block in Naboro Minimum Corrections Centre and thereby causing him actual bodily harm.
Sadranu and Satini were each charged with one count of acts intended to cause grievous harm.
It was alleged that Sadranu with intent, unlawfully caused him grievous harm by continuously punching him several times inside the Chief Operations Office in Naboro Minimum Corrections Centre.
Koroi was charged with one count of acts intended to cause grievous harm.
It was alleged that Koroi with intent, unlawfully caused him grievous harm by hitting his head and shoulder with a black baton inside the Chief Operations Office in Naboro.
Koroi, Raqamate, Sadranu, Tikoigau, Rakaso, Vasuvulagi, Satini, Raikoso, and Naqama were jointly charged with one count of act intended to cause grievous harm. Rakaso was charged with one count of complicity in the suicide of another.
It was alleged that Rakaso wilfully procured the suicide of Seremaia Momo by telling him to kill himself with a plastic wire inside the Solitary Block in Naboro Minimum Corrections Centre.
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