Former Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has been sentenced to one year in prison.
Bainimarama, alongside suspended Fiji Police commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho, appeared in the High Court in Suva for their sentencing hearing for a case involving their roles in blocking a police investigation at the University of the South Pacific in 2021.
Qiliho has been sentenced to two years in jail.
Bainimarama, 70, is a former military commander and 2006 coup leader. He was found guilty of perverting the course of justice.
(Left) Former Fiji PM Frank Bainimarama, and (right) Sitiveni Qiliho. Photo / NZH file, Fijian Government.
“The former PM and the suspended COMPOL were found not guilty and acquitted accordingly by Resident Magistrate Seini Puamau at the Suva Magistrates Court on 12 October 2023,” the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said.
“The State had filed an appeal against their acquittal where the Acting Chief Justice, Salesi Temo then overturned the Magistrate’s decision and found the two guilty as charged. The matter was then sent back to the Magistrates’ Court for sentencing.”
In sentencing the duo, Magistrate Puamau announced that both their convictions would not be registered.
The former leader was granted an absolute discharge while the suspended COMPOL received a conditional discharge with a fine of $1500 on 28 March 2024 by the Suva Magistrates Court following which the State filed an appeal and challenged the discharge for a custodial sentence.
“The Acting Chief Justice quashed the Magistrate Court’s sentence and pronounced the custodial sentences respectively.”
Timeline:
The two men are sentenced by the Magistrates Court on March 28.
Magistrate Seini Puamau gave Bainimarama an absolute discharge - the lowest level sentence an offender can get and no conviction was registered.
Qiliho was fined FJ$1,500 and without a conviction as well.
The 69-year-old former military commander and 2006 coup leader was found guilty of perverting the course of justice in a case related to the University of the South Pacific; and suspended police chief Qiliho was found guilty of abuse of office by the High Court Acting Chief Justice Salesi Temo.
Magistrate Puamau’s judgement had left many in the legal circles and commentators in the country perplexed.
The State - through the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution - had appealed the sentencing straightaway to the High Court.
They were back in court 7 days later - during the court appearance at the High Court, the Acting Chief Justice Salesi Temo, gave time until the 24 April for the respondents to file their submissions and for the State to reply by the 29th.
The sentencing hearing was last Thursday, 2 May.
Acting Chief Justice Salesi Temo sentences Bainimarama to one year in jail and Qiliho for two years.
Bainimarama’s attempt to pervert the course of justice charge had a maximum tariff of five years while Qiliho’s charge of abuse of office carried a maximum tariff of 10 years.
