TLFC chair faces court after bench warrant issued

The iTaukei Land and Fisheries Commission chairperson, Apimeleki Tola, will wait for the court record from the State prosecution.

He appeared before Justice Hamza at the High Court in Lautoka yesterday.

Police had issued a bench warrant for him after the Lautoka Magistrates Court handed down a nine-month committal sentence in absentia when Tola failed to appear for sentencing.

His trial was conducted in absentia at the Magistrates Court, and the proceedings continued without him. The court then delivered a judgment convicting him and issued a bench warrant for his arrest, along with a sentence in his absence.

The bench warrant followed his convictions for assault and damaging property offences committed in October 2022.

Magistrate Shelyn Kiran delivered the sentence in Tola’s absence.

Yesterday, Tola was represented by Mosese Naivalu, while State prosecution was represented by John Rabuku.

Mr Naivalu based his arguments on Section 14, Subsection 2, and told the court that although Tola was aware of the court case, he chose not to attend.

Tola has applied for bail pending appeal. However, Mr Rabuku stated that the prosecution had not yet received the court record from the Magistrates Court and could not proceed without it.

The matter has been adjourned to November 25.