Saneem Claims Rights Violated During Arrest

The former Supervisor of Elections (SoE), Mohammed Saneem, testified in court yesterday that his rights were violated during his arrest and subsequent remand earlier this year.

Saneem appeared at the Suva Magistrate’s Court before Magistrate Yogesh Prasad.

He made this statement while pro-viding evidence during the hearing on the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions’ (ODPP) application to consolidate the charges against him and former Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, as well as his own request for the charges to be declared null and void due to the violation of his rights.

He claimed his human rights were breached from March 8 to March 11 this year during his arrest and remand.

It is alleged that while serving as the Supervisor of Elections between June 1, 2022, and July 31, 2022, he unlawfully solicited and received a benefit exceeding $50,000 in deductible tax relief on his back pay from a senior government official for personal gain.

Seeking to have the charges against him declared null and void, Saneem’s testimony described the dramatic circumstances of his arrest on March 8.

He claimed that two police officers posing as clients arrived at his law firm under the guise of needing le-gal assistance.

But instead of a case to discuss, they took him into custody, he said.

Although his preferred lawyer, Devanesh Sharma, was unavailable, Saneem had hoped to secure a temporary one until the following day.

Instead, after 4pm that day, he claimed that the Director of Public Prosecutions had ordered him to be charged immediately.

He recalled suggesting to the officers that it was too late in the day for such proceedings.

“Their response? Lock him up,” he told the court.

This was only the beginning of his ordeal, he told the court.

Mr Saneem claimed he was given no written justification for his detention, with the police citing vaguely “orders from above.”

He said attempts to communicate with the DPP and other officials were met with silence, leaving him trapped in limbo with no court or-der extending his remand.

During his three-day confinement at Totogo Police Station, Mr Saneem recounted the grim conditions he endured.

The stress of his previous role overseeing three elections weighed heavily on him, compounded by the inhumane treatment he experienced during his remand, he said.

Another twist

The case took another twist when Saneem was questioned about alle-gations of undue influence related to the presence of a FijiFirst party banner at the Suva Civic carpark.

In response, he produced a letter from the former chair of the Electoral Commission, Mukesh Chand, which confirmed that Saneem had acted to have the banner removed,  an action he asserted demonstrated his commitment to impartiality.

Meanwhile, co-defendant Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum faced charges of abuse of office.

The prosecution alleged that dur-ing his time as the Acting Prime Minister, he had improperly au-thorised a payment arrangement that benefited Saneem without the necessary approvals.

Saneem, in turn, was accused of soliciting a corrupt benefit specifically, tax relief exceeding $50,000 on his back pay, allegedly obtained through his connections within the government.

The case is adjourned to December 17 for ruling.

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