Mollyn Nakabea 
Former Deputy Prime Minister Biman Prasad [Photo: Mollyn Nakabea]
The Suva Magistrates Court has rejected FICAC’s application to produce former Registrar of Political Parties Mohammed Saneem as a witness in the case against former Deputy Prime Minister Biman Prasad.
However, the Magistrates Court has ruled in favour of FICAC’s bid to disclose a certified true copy of a company document to be admitted as evidence.
The court ruled that introducing a new witness after the trial had already begun would affect the procedural fairness of the accused.
The court noted that it was not notified by FICAC in any point in time of their work to obtain a new witness statement.
In other matters, the court has directed FICAC to bring its investigation officer to clarify an issue concerning two witness statements.
This comes after defence counsel Richard Naidu raised concerns about the disclosure of two witness statements, which he said were relevant to the defence case and appeared to have been taken from the previous investigation.
FICAC Manager Legal Joseph Work told the court the prosecution was not in the best position to answer the question, as it did not conduct the investigation.
The court stressed the need for the matter to be dealt with properly with the relevant facts, noting that the trial remains ongoing.
The matter resumes this afternoon.
