Former Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum and former Supervisor of Elections Mohamed Saneem [File Photo]

Former Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum and former Supervisor of Elections Mohamed Saneem have been found not guilty by the Suva High Court this morning.

The matter was called before Chief Justice Salesi Temo today, where he stated that the state failed to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt.

In this matter, Sayed-Khaiyum faced a charge of abuse of office, while Saneem was charged with receiving a corrupt benefit.

Temo informed the court that the problem started with the misreading of the clause in the second deed of variation.

The Chief Justice today ruled that there was no evidence to support that Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum agreed to pay or waive Saneem’s taxes arising from his back pay processed under the first Deed of variation, and that he did not abuse the authority of his office, nor did any arbitrary act that was prejudicial to the rights of the government of Fiji.

Justice Temo said that the Fijian Elections Office employees misread the clause that the government will pay any additional deductible tax under the laws of Fiji for Saneem.

The Chief Justice also noted that the police and their legal advisers did not pick up on the Fijian Elections Office’s flawed interpretation of that particular clause, which led the matter to proceed to the courts. He stated that it was none of the FEO’s officials’ business to put a flawed interpretation on the clause and unnecessarily report the same to the police.

Justice Temo noted the payment voucher, which was tendered as evidence, explained that Saneem paid extra tax in 2021, and the $55,944.03 was reimbursement of his overpaid taxes to the state as a result of his back pay, and it did not come from the government.

The state had claimed that Saneem corruptly received a benefit, which was not true.

It was alleged that while acting as Prime Minister and Chair of the Constitutional Offices Commission in 2022, Sayed-Khaiyum executed a second Deed of Variation and Addendum, agreeing to pay or waive additional deductible taxes owed by Saneem arising from his back pay process under the first Deed of Variation dated 30 June 2022, without proper approval from the President or the COC.

It was further alleged that Saneem requested and obtained a benefit for himself, namely the approval and payment of deductible tax relief totaling $55,944.03 on his back pay from Sayed-Khaiyum.

The state had indicated that it would be appealing the High Court’s Judgement.

Following the judgment, Sayed-Khaiyum and Saneem acknowledged the hard work of their lawyers and the well-wishes of their families and supporters.