FWRM opposes further sentence reduction for Fareed

The Fiji Women’s Rights Movement (FWRM) has urged that former Fijian Holdings Limited chief executive officer Mohammed Nouzab Fareed’s prison sentence not be reduced further, as he plans to appeal his sentence.

Fareed was convicted on two counts of indecent assault committed against a subordinate female employee in his office.

According to FWRM, he received a sentence of eight months and 22 days, with a portion suspended, and has announced plans to appeal the sentence as excessive.

FWRM said while it respected the independence of the judiciary and available legal avenues, it considered the power imbalance in the case clear and believed the current sentence was already lenient given the abuse of power involved.

The organisation said a deterrent sentence was needed in cases involving workplace sexual harassment.

The complainant, who FWRM said it had supported for the past seven years through a senior legal adviser, said the conviction and sentence had given her an opportunity to move forward.

"The conviction and sentence offer a chance to finally rebuild my life and find a sense of normalcy," the complainant shared with the Fiji Women's Rights Movement (FWRM), which has supported her for the past seven years through a senior legal advisor. "The prospect of any sentence reduction is deeply distressing to contemplate."

FWRM executive director Nalini Singh said reducing the sentence further would affect the message sent to women experiencing harassment in the workplace.

"A further reduction would be a slap in the face not only for the complainant, but for all Fiji women in the workplace. The criminal serves some 8 months; the complainant effectively “served” 7 years. Seeking justice must never become another punishment for the woman who survived."

Companies must be accountable

FWRM also raised the wider issue of corporate accountability, saying responsibility rested not only with perpetrators but also with corporate environments that allowed such behaviour to persist.

The organisation said the complainant’s seven-year wait for justice involved emotional trauma and required significant courage.

FWRM deputy board chair Annie Reymond Rogers questioned the message that a sentence reduction could send to other women experiencing workplace violence or harassment.

"If the sentence is reduced, what message does that send to every woman in Fiji who experiences violence or harassment in the workplace? That it’s okay to get away with it?"

FWRM said Fareed’s guilt had been established through the court process and called for the courts to send a strong message against workplace sexual harassment and the abuse of executive authority.

The organisation maintained that accountability should extend to the corporate environment in which such conduct was allowed to persist.

FWRM is a non-governmental organisation focused on removing discrimination against women through institutional reform, legal literacy and advocacy.