Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum Granted Bail
Former Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has been granted bail. Sayed-Khaiyum is charged with one count of abuse of office.
The allegation is that between June 30, 2022 and July 12, 2022, in Suva, while being employed in the civil service as the acting Prime Minister of Fiji, Sayed-Khaiyum signed a Deed of Variation and Addendum between the Government of Fiji and the Supervisor of Elections, Mohammed Saneem.
It was alleged this was done without the proper approval of the Constitutional Offices Commission and the President of Fiji, in abuse of the authority of his office, which was an arbitrary act prejudicial to the rights of the Government of Fiji.
Sayed-Khaiyum was arrested on Monday and was kept in custody at the Totogo Police Station. He was handcuffed when he was transported from CID Headquarters in Toorak to Totogo Police Station. Yesterday he was not handcuffed when he appeared at the Magistrates Court in Suva before Chief Magistrate Waleen George.
Court drama
Sayed-Khaiyum was brought to the Court house by the Criminal Investigations Department at around 2pm for the court appearance.
The courtroom was not open, so Sayed-Khaiyum was kept seated in the CID vehicle until 2.19pm. He was then taken to the Court cell block where he was kept. At 2.25pm, Sayed-Khaiyum was taken out of the cell block and taken to the courtroom.
The atmosphere was tense with a handful of vocal critics shouting “Justice for Fiji”. Sayed-Khaiyum was surrounded by several young FijiFirst supporters.
The proceeding was called in an open courtroom however, a Police officer tried to stop some media personnel from entering. He claimed the room was full and that the media were not allowed inside.
Despite various attempts by media personnel to cover the case, the Police officer at the courtroom door pushed the journalists and held them by the hand trying to escort the journalist outside.
Some managed to find their way in. Inside, court officers asked media personnel to find space and to be seated as directed by the Chief Magistrate. Some media personnel had to leave the courtroom due to the courtroom being packed to its maximum capacity.
Chief Magistrate George entered the court and asked all media to take a seat while she dispersed again for a few minutes.
The case was called 10 minutes after where the Acting Director of Public Prosecutions David Toganivalu appeared for prosecution while lawyers Devanesh Sharma and Gul Fatima appeared before Sayed-Khaiyum.
Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) lawyers were also present in the courtroom to observe the court proceedings.
The Proceedings
The charge was read to SayedKhaiyum in English which he said he understood.
Mr Toganivalu told the court that the first phase of disclosures were served to the lawyers to which Mr Sharma agreed to.
Mr Sharma sought the court’s diligence to defer the plea.
Chief Magistrate George said she would not take a plea on the first instance and also suggested the counsels go through with the disclosures before plea was taken.
Election of Court
Chief Magistrate George asked the counsels on the election of the court as the charge of abuse of office was a summary offence. Mr Sharma asked the court for time on the election as he wished to go through with full disclosures and advise his clients. He however, informed the court that his client would be proceeding with the Magistrates Court.
Bail
On bail matter, Mr Toganivalu did not object to bail however, sought strict bail conditions and a reporting condition.
Mr Sharma surrendered SayedKhaiyum’s passport and informed the court that his diplomatic passport had already been surrendered. The sureties for Sayed-Khaiyum were Opposition Members of Parliament and FijiFirst Party members Parveen Bala and Viam Pillay.
Bail conditions
Sayed-Khaiyum was granted bail on a personal surety bond of $10,000 non-cash and two sureties bail bond each of $10,000 non-cash. He was ordered not to interfere with the prosecution witnesses and not to reoffend while on bail. He has been ordered to reside at his fixed address in Nadi and report to Namaka Police Station every last Saturday of the month between 6am and 6pm.
He was also ordered to surrender all his travel documents to the court. The matter will be called for mention for the second phase of disclosures on June 13.
Handcuffs
When questioned on the issue of handcuffs, Sayed-Khaiyum said according to the CID officers, it was for his own safety.
“We have to understand that this is a charge that has been laid on me,” Sayed-Khaiyum said.
“I cannot discuss it, but I would like to thank all those people who sent their best wishes. I thank my family members, my wife, my brother and rest of the family and the former PM Voreqe Bainimarama and all the supporters. It is overwhelming.
“I would also like to say that the Police in conducting the interviews that I have been called in over the period of a month, have been very professional and I would like to acknowledge that.”