Voreqe Bainimarama, former prime minister of Fiji, has been convicted for interfering in a criminal investigation while he was in power.
Salesi Temo, presiding judge, sentenced the 70-year-old in
Suva, the capital, to one year in prison.
Sitiveni Qiliho, suspended police commissioner, was also
convicted for his involvement in the case.
Bainimarama was found guilty of one-count of attempt to
pervert the course of justice, while Qiliho was found guilty of one-count of
abuse of office.
BACKGROUND
Bainimarama was prime minister of the tropical island nation
in 2019 when he ended a police investigation into allegations of financial
mismanagement at the University of the South Pacific.
The university administration had filed cases of funding
abuse and mismanagement that they said had been going on for a decade.
Prosecutors said the prime minister and police commissioner
ended an active police investigation into implicated former university staff
members.
The prosecutors added that authorities were continuing their
investigation and could press more charges.
Bainimarama had led his government for 16 years, first as a
military dictator following a 2006 coup, and then as a prime minister who was
democratically elected in 2014 and 2018.
After the 2022 election, he was succeeded by Sitiveni
Rabuka, who first seized power as a coup leader in 1987.
A magistrate court had acquitted Bainimarama and Qiliho of
all charges in 2023, but the state filed an appeal against their acquittal.
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