Kumar questions security failure in High Court cocaine case

Opposition Member of Parliament Premila Kumar has raised the possibility of an "inside job" in the disappearance of more than $50 million worth of cocaine from the High Court exhibit room in Suva.

The missing drugs be­longed to Australian John Nicholic and Canadian Joshua Aziz Rahman, both of whom were imprisoned in Fiji. Police indicated that cameras and biometric se­curity systems at the exhibit room were not in operation.

Ms Kumar said these raised questions about how the drugs could have gone missing.

"Definitely, the way, listen­ing to the security features that were there at the court where these drugs were kept, it shows it's an inside job," she said.

The disappearance of drugs from the court exhib­it room after years of stor­age raises concerns about the security of the court premises and the integrity of senior judicial officers including chief registrar Tomasi Bainivalu who was responsible for overseeing the administration and op­erations of the court.

Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka had stated earlier that everyone, including Mr Bainivalu, would be ques­tioned.

Call for Audit

Ms Kumar said while the investigation was ongoing, the focus should also be on identifying where the secu­rity system failed and pre­venting a repeat.

"One must think again, what is it that the security failed? And they need to work backwards to fix that."

She called for an audit of the facil­ity and questioned how often this was conducted, saying it should go beyond checking whether exhibits were present.

"This is not the first time the pub­lic has seen things missing from the court or things missing from Police confinement."

Ms Kumar also called for court CCTV cameras be linked to the Po­lice monitoring system rather than opera ting independently.