4.7kg meth case transferred to High Court in Suva

Four men who are now jointly charged for their involvement in the 4.7 kilograms of methamphetamine have been denied bail and will appear before the High Court in Suva next month. 

Ratu Lote Leweivuna, Sevuloni Lubi, Eroni Bati and Alipate Matadigo appeared with their respective lawyers yesterday morning for their bail ruling. 

They appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Josaia Waqaivolavola and Resident Magistrate Aisea Paka. 

Ratu Lote and Lubi share a charge of possession of 4.7kg meth, Bati faces a charge of importing while Matadigo was charged for assisting the transportation of the drugs. 

In his ruling, Chief Magistrate Waqaivolavola found that there were no new circumstances nor strong grounds to meet the threshold of granting bail. 

He found Ratu Lote’s application to be the same as his initial bail noting his contention to: 

• the consolidation of the files 
• The transfer of the case to the Acting Chief Magistrate’s court and 
• The hearing of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution’s transfer 

He also noted that Lubi and Bati’s application extended to the need to support their family and children who are in school. 

The court noted that Bati had been incarcerated for 117 days and was suffering an old injury. 

In Matadigo’s application, the court found that his reasoning of not sighting the caution interview transcripts and procedural breach was not strong enough to prove his case. 

The court has also noted that the consolidation of charges was done to ease case file management for Prosecution as the drugs confiscated was the same. 

Pursuant to Section 188 (1) and 191 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2009, the matter, given its seriousness, was transferred to the High Court. 

As of now, all four people will remain in remand until their first call before the High Court in Suva in February 13.