Eight corrections officers charged with the assault and death of Seremaia Naidole Momo have been granted bail by the Suva Magistrates Court.

Initially, 10 corrections officers were to front court yesterday however, one of the accused Lemeki Koroi passed away in 2019 while a second accused Ledua Tikoigau no longer resides in the country.

Josefa Satini, Joji Ragamate, Waisea Sadranu, Nemani Vasuvulagi, Isei Rakaso, Josefa Boletakibureta , Pita Raikoso and Apisai Naqamu have been charged with one count each for act intended to cause grievous harm.

It is alleged that on the 20th of February 2019 the corrections officers unlawfully caused grievous harm to Seremaia Momo by continuously punching him several times inside the Chief Operations Office in the Naboro Minimum Corrections Centre.

Rakaso, Raikoso and Boletakibureta are charged with one count of assault causing actual bodily harm.

Rakaso is also charged with one count of complicity in the suicide of another, it is alleged that on the 20th of February 2019, Rakaso willfully procured the suicide of Seremaia Momo by telling him to kill himself with a plastic wire inside the Solitary Block in the Naboro Minimum Corrections Centre.

Defence revealed in court that two of the accused are no longer employed by the Fiji Corrections Service while the remaining six accused have been suspended.

The case has been transferred to the Suva High Court and will be recalled on the 6th of April.