Former Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended Police Commissioner Brigadier-General Sitiveni Qiliho’s no case to answer ruling will be delivered on Thursday.

Suva Magistrate Seini Puamau was due to deliver her ruling this afternoon, however she adjourned the matter as the ruling was not ready.

Bainimarama and Qiliho are charged in relation to the termination of a Police investigation relating to the University of the South Pacific in July 2019.

They appeared before Magistrate Seini Puamau in the Magistrates Court in Suva Magistrates Court this afternoon.

They were represented by R Patel Lawyers Devanesh Sharma and Gul Fatima while the State was represented by Acting Director of Public Prosecutions David Toganivalu and Counsel Nimisha Shankar.

The Charges:
Bainimarama is charged with attempted to pervert the course of justice. It is alleged that sometime in the sometime between July 2020 and September 2020 at Suva, Bainimarama attempted to pervert the course of justice by telling the suspended Commissioner of Police, Sitiveni Qiliho to stay away from the University of the South Pacific investigations that was reported on July 12, 2019.

Qiliho is charged with abuse of office. It is alleged that Qiliho on July 15, 2020, at Suva, being employed in the public service as the Commissioner of Police of Fiji, directed the director of criminal investigations department Serupepli Neiko and Inspector Reshmi Dass to stop investigations into the Police complaint involving CID/HQ PEP 12/07/2019, in the abuse of the authority of his office, which was an arbitrary act prejudicial to the rights of the University of the South Pacific.

Story by: ashna.kumar@fijisun.com.fj