Photographing suspects was routine, says officer in Qiliho-Bainimarama trial
They never knew that photographing suspects was unlawful.
Thursday 07 August 2025 | 12:00
Former Police Commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho and former Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama outside the High Court in Suva
Photo: Ronald Kumar
Photographing suspects before they were charged was standard practice for Police officers, a witness told the High Court in Suva yesterday during the trial of former Police Commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho and former Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama.
Inspector Penieli Ratei, one of two officers sacked in connection with the incident, said he did not believe any rules had been broken when photos of Bainimarama’s brother, Jonacani Bainimarama, were circulated in internal Viber chat groups in 2021.
The two officers were terminated from the Fiji Police Force after Mr Bainimarama’s photo—captioned “drug trafficker suspect”—was shared in the 'Southern Division Operations Team' (SDOT) and 'COVID-19 Ops Team' chat groups.
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Inspector Ratei was the ninth State witness during the third day of trial against Qiliho and Bainimarama at the High Court in Suva yesterday.
During the proceeding, Inspector Ratei explained that as a standard procedure of five years from 2017 to 2021, they never knew that photographing suspects was unlawful.
He said there were multiple active viber chat groups that help Police from different divisions communicate efficiently; especially when suspects are being profiled.
He confirmed yesterday that there were only two viber chat groups in which Mr Bainimarama’s photo was uploaded to- ‘Southern Division Operations Team (SDOT) and the COVID-19 Ops Team’.
He said he instructed Police Constable Tomasi Naulu to upload his photo on SDOT, after which he then forwarded the same photo to COVID-19 Ops Team chat group.
Inspector Ratei said there was nothing uncommon about photographs because photos were always uploaded in those chat groups, of which Qiliho was also a member of.
He said Mr Bainimarama was labeled a suspect because of an incident that occured in April 2021 during a COVID-19 boarder operations where they had received an intel from the Internal Affairs Unit about a taxi parked near the Delainavesi bridge carrying drugs.
He said after deploying to the area, they found Mr Bainimarama in the taxi with a black bag in the passenger seat full of marijuana.
When asked, Mr Bainimarama said he was transporting the drugs to someone waiting on the other side of the bridge.
The inspector explained the second time he saw Mr Bainimarama was during a spot check along Nabua on May 21, 2021, where nothing was found in his taxi.
He said he was punished twice, in that he paid his fine and then was terminated.
He also said that this took a toll on his personal life causing more financial burdens on his family in the last one year and eight months he was dismissed.
When cross-examined, Inspector Ratei admitted although it was unlawful, they only realised after the Acting Police Commissioner then, Rusiate Tudravu gave instruction via a Force Routine Order (FRO), a directive finalising orders on his punishment.
Defense lawyer, Devanesh Sharma questioned Mr Tudravu’s punishment where he was sent on annual leave for 51 days and had received full payment during that time.
Inspector Ratei said provisions in the Police Act if he was entitled to annual leave in the cause of an interdiction.
He dismissed Defense claims of giving the Minister for Defense, Pio Tikoduadua information about this case leading to Mr Tikoduadua’s complaint made to the Constitutional Offices Commission.
He said a few people from the Ministry approached him and retrieved documents instead.
Constable Naulu also took the stand yesterday.
Trial will continue next Tuesday, August 12.
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