President pardons inmates
THREE inmates who were serving sentences were granted a presidential pardon by President Ratu Wiliame Katonivere at the State House on Thursday.
The former Fiji Corrections Centre inmates were Albertino Shankar, Iliesa Duvuloco and Veremo Peceli Masidole.
During his speech, Ratu Wiliame said at his inauguration as President in 2021, he promised to uphold and safeguard the Constitution of the Republic of Fiji.
“I promised to do what is right and just — as God grants — and being guided by the Constitution, and one such duty is granting of presidential pardon,” he said.
“The grant of presidential pardon is made possible by the guidance and advice of the Mercy Commission which exists by virtue of Section 119 of the Constitution of the Republic of Fiji.
“On the petition for any convicted person, the commission may recommend to the President and exercise the power of mercy by either granting a free or conditional pardon, postponing the carrying out of a punishment whether for a specific or intermediate period or by remitting all or part of the punishment.”
He said the Mercy Commission since 2000 has received 65 applications for pardon and recommended 37 be pardoned by the President.
“The process begins when there is an application of pardon made to the chairman of the Mercy Commission. Applications are submitted from the Fiji Corrections Service (FCS) with the following supporting documents — the Commissioner of Fiji Corrections Service report, police report, medical report, psychologist report, social welfare reports, the judgment, other supporting documents from the family or church community or other communities supporting statements.
“The secretary of the commission also writes to the Chief Registrar for case reports, after weeks — a rigorous system of scrutiny is made by key stakeholders before the final deliberation of the commission.”
Meanwhile, acting FCS commissioner Salote Panapasa lauded “the great vision” of the President.
“They have been looking forward to the exciting news of their release,” she said.
“They have gone through our rehabilitation program to instil discipline, address their offending behaviour and of course have some skills to start a new life,” she said.