Lawyers speak out
LAWYERS for National Federation Party (NFP) leader Professor Biman Prasad say they are “deeply concerned” at the way Police Commissioner Brigadier-General Sitiveni Qiliho publicised the decision of Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Christopher Pryde to direct the withdrawal of “indecently insulting or annoying any person” charges brought against Prof Prasad earlier this week.
AK Lawyers said they were particularly concerned that the Commissioner said the process adopted by the DPP’s office was “unprecedented”.
“Our firm is of the opinion that the only matter that was ‘unprecedented’ was the (police) Commissioner’s decision to hold a media conference to undermine and question the constitutional prosecutorial authority of Fiji,” stated AK Lawyers in a statement issued yesterday.
“This is particularly so when his own department had sought advice and an opinion of the ODPP.” The lawyers said they were also concerned that the Commissioner’s press conference was an attempt to portray the Prof Prasad as “using questionable means to evade prosecution”.
AK Lawers said Mr Qiliho “ought to have been aware” that they had issued defamation proceedings against both Mr Hiroshi Taniguchi, a former NFP election candidate, and the Fiji Broadcasting Corporation (FBC) for publication of “false and defamatory” statements made by Mr Taniguchi to FBC.
“These allegations related to his wife, Mrs Ari Taniguchi, purportedly from communications exchanged between her and Professor Prasad earlier this year” – which was “widely broadcast by FBC and other media outlets,” they said.
They said the Commissioner would have become immediately aware of the “subsequent and inconsistent” allegations being made by Mrs Taniguchi when she lodged her complaint to the police.
The law firm said that despite this knowledge, police interviewed Professor Prasad, who was accompanied by a partner of Suva law firm Munro Leys, because a lawyer from AK Lawyers could not come from Nadi to Suva on time.
“On completion of the caution interview, Professor Prasad was charged by police for ‘indecently insulting or annoying any person’ and released on police bail to appear on November 15, 2022 at the Suva Magistrate’s Court.”
AK Lawyers stated after being apprised of the facts and content of the interview by Prof Prasad, they advised him that the charges would not stand the scrutiny of a court trial, “and the prosecution would fail”.
The lawyers said their advice to Prof Prasad was to make representations to the ODPP not to proceed with the contemplated charges.
This was, they said, something they had done “in appropriate cases, over the last 40plus years”.
“This is an accepted practice adopted by most criminal law practitioners, both in Fiji and other jurisdictions.”
AK Lawyers stated it was incorrect for the Commissioner to say that the “DPP’s Office contacted Prof Prasad through his lawyers”.
“On the contrary, our firm had made written submissions and representations on its own initiative, to the ODPP on October 31, 2022.”
AK Lawyers said they “will not comment on any evidence that was selectively revealed to the public as there is a matter currently pending in Court and therefore sub judice”.