State seeks AFP help to access Bainimarama’s mobile phone evidence

The State is seeking assistance from the Australian Federal Police to extract evidence from former Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama’s mobile phone.

The High Court in Suva heard yesterday that police had allegedly retrieved an iPhone 12 Pro from a Prime Minister’s Office employee who had been using it with his official SIM card since August 2023.

Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Laisani Tabuakoro informed Justice Thushara Rajasinghe that the Criminal Investigations Department was liaising to get AFP assistance by the end of this week.

She said prosecution would close the case if help was not secured within two extra days, saying dragging the case would be unfair to the defence.

The court heard that William Pawa, a Planning and Coordination Officer at the Prime Minister’s Office, had allegedly received the phone directly from Bainimarama during a recovery operation for official items.

Mr Pawa testified that when he cross-checked the phone’s serial number against the office inventory, it did not match official records.

He then asked Bainimarama if he could use the phone for official purposes.

Police allegedly tracked the device through its IMEI number provided by Vodafone Fiji, which showed Mr Pawa's SIM card was being used on the phone.

Officers collected it from Mr Pawa last Thursday.

The State claims this phone belongs to Bainimarama and contains potential evidence for the case where he faces charges of making unwarranted demands as a public official.

Mr Pawa told the court he had been communicating with the former Prime Minister through Viber text messages while using the device.

Defence lawyer Devanesh Sharma is not planning to file a no case submission.

The trial has been adjourned to Monday, August 25.