Canadian national’s hearing date to be fixed for July
The High Court in Suva will set hearing dates in the case of a 24-year-old Canadian in July. Joshua Aziz Rahman appeared before Justice Daniel Goundar yesterday.
Rahman is facing one count of unlawful possession of illicit drugs.
It is alleged that on February 14, 2019, in Caubati, Suva, Rahman was found in possession of 39.5 kilograms of illicit drugs, namely cocaine.
The raid was conducted at the accused person’s home in Caubati on February 14, where the discovery of 39 bars of white powder was discovered and later tested positive to be cocaine worth more than $30 million.
Defence lawyer Neel Shivam told the court that lawyers Ronald Gordon and Vasu Pillay would be conducting the trial as the defence counsel team for the accused.
He also told the court that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr Gordon was not able to travel to Fiji from Australia and sought further time from court for the hearing.
Rahman’s trial was initially fixed for two weeks in April, however, due to Mr Gordon being unavailable to be in the country for the trial, it was vacated.
Justice Goundar has adjourned the matter to check on the counsels for trial to July 13.
Rahman has been further remanded in custody and a production order has been issued for him to be produced in court for the case.