Former Fiji PM Bainimarama sentenced to year in jail
Friday 10 May 2024 | Written by Supplied | Published in Fiji, Regional

Former Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended Police Commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho exit court in handcuffs. FijiVillage/24050806
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 yesterday 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 jail.
Bainimarama,
the 69-year-old former military commander and 2006 coup leader, had been found
guilty of perverting the course of justice.
Qiliho
had been found guilty of abuse of office by the High Court Acting Chief Justice
Salesi Temo.
Bainimarama
and Qiliho walked out of the High Court in Suva in handcuffs, and were escorted
straight into a police vehicle.
Earlier
on Thursday morning (local time), local media reported an increased police
presence outside the Suva court complex.
"There
is more pronounced police presence than usual with vehicles being checked upon
entry. A section has been cordoned off in front of the High Court facing
Holiday Inn," broadcaster fijivillage.com reported.
State
broadcaster FBC reported that police only allowed close relatives and
Bainimarama and Qiliho's associates, along with the media, to sit in the
courtroom.
Brief
timeline:
- The
duo were sentenced by the Magistrates Court on 28 March.
- 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$1500 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.