Voreqe Bainimarama and Sitiveni Qiliho appeared this morning before Acting Chief Justice Salesi Temo.

Counsels in the appeal case against former Prime Minister and suspended Police Commissioner have been given time to look through the initial trial court records.

Voreqe Bainimarama and Sitiveni Qiliho appeared this morning before Acting Chief Justice Salesi Temo.

Bainimarama was charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho was accused of abuse of office.

Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Josh Rabuku informed the court that he won’t be prosecuting this case because he had handled Qiliho’s file earlier.

He also confirmed that he was paid while taking care of Qiliho’s file and that it would be a conflict of interest if he does so.

Rabuku said the DPP Office has hired somebody equally competent to take over this case and he would be arriving in Fiji soon.

The Acting DPP also informed the court that he would confirm later on whether he would be amending the petition of the appeal after he goes through the court records.

Rabuku raised an issue in court today regarding court records, saying he had noticed dots on some of the pages and it was unclear what exactly was discussed in some parts of the trial hearing.

Justice Temo responded and said it was normal for court records to have dots on them, and if counsels were unsure about the content, then they can always rely on the Magistrate or Judge’s notes.

He said because according to the law, the notes of the presiding Magistrate or Judge prevail because they are judges of facts and law.

The appellant in this matter, which is the ODPP, has been given time to go through the trial records and also the liberty to amend the grounds of appeal in the next two weeks.

This should be ready by December 18, and then the defense will file and serve their reply to the submission by February 9, 2024.

Devanesh Sharma and Gul Fatima appeared on behalf of Bainimarama and Qiliho.

The ODPP is at liberty to serve and reply to the submission by February 16, 2024.

The hearing on this case will take place on February 24, 2024.