Former Fiji PM Bainimarama handed one-year prison sentence
World
By
AFP
| May 09, 2024
Former Fiji prime minister Frank Bainimarama was sentenced Thursday to one year in prison for perverting the course of justice, with a judge finding he used his political clout to shut down a police investigation.
Bainimarama was sentenced at Fiji's High Court in the capital Suva, after being found guilty this year of quashing a police probe into alleged corruption at a Fijian university.
The former military commander seized power in a bloodless coup in 2006 and remains a popular figure in the South Pacific nation.
A crowd of supporters sang outside the court as the sentence was handed down before Bainimarama was handcuffed and led away into a waiting police truck.
Bainimarama's wife Maria sobbed throughout acting Chief Justice Salesi Temo's sentencing remarks.
READ MORE
Family demands justice after son drowns in hotel's swimming pool
Ruto arrives in Harare ahead of COMESA summit
Italy's bet on Kenya's construction industry
Ruto vows to build Kitale hospital despite Natembeya opposition
Natembeya vows to stop construction of Kitale Level 5 Hospital
No deal, no classes as lecturers reject government offer
Leaders hail teachers' selfless service
Teachers' unions demand ECDE promotions and P1 recruitment
Ogamba calls on university dons to resume duty
Aviator Grand Flight puts Sh2.5m up for grabs as SportPesa spotlights big winners
A lower court magistrate ruled in March that Bainimarama's ailing health -- he underwent urgent heart surgery in 2022 -- meant the 70-year-old should not be sent to prison.
But Temo upended this decision, saying it "completely ignored" the severity of Bainimarama's actions.
The judge lashed former naval commodore Bainimarama for trashing his oaths of office.
He did, however, reduce Bainimarama's sentence on the strength of character references provided by two former Fijian presidents.