'Court to Rule on Prasad's Charges, Not Lawyers'

The indictment of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Biman Prasad, rests solely with the Court, not his lawyers, asserted former Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry.

This is Mr Chaudhry's response to Mr Prasad's comments regarding the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) charg­es against him.

FICAC had intended to charge Mr Prasad on September 5 with multi­ple counts related to the declaration of assets, income, and liabilities, contrary to Section 24 (l)(b)(iv) of the Political Parties (Registration, Conduct, Funding and Disclosures) Act 2013.

In previous inquiries by this masthead, Mr Prasad consistently said that his lawyers were handling the situation and that they would not comment further.

The context of this indictment deepened on September 5 when for­mer Deputy FICAC Commissioner, Francis Puleiwai, resigned following discussions with the Judicial Services Commission.

Ms Pulewai has been replaced by newly-appointed Commissioner, Barbara Malimali.

"Mr Biman's claim that his lawyers rejecting the charges is neither here nor there," Mr Chaudhry said.

"It is for the courts, not his law­yers, to decide on the merits of the charges."

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