Man gets life sentence overturned by Fiji Court of Appeal

A man who was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder five years ago, is now a free man as he has been acquitted by the Fiji Court of Appeal.

Anesh Ram was sentenced by the Suva High Court in 2010 for a non-parole period of 20 years for a murder of a woman in Narere in June 2008.

Ram had filed a notice of appeal against the conviction and sentence in November 2010.

After looking at the grounds of appeal, Fiji Court of Appeal President Justice William Calanchini and two other judges highlighted that they are obliged to consider the effect of the errors made by the trial judge in his summing up on the appellant’s conviction.

In their judgement they said that the combination of misdirections on the law or inadequate directions on the real issues had caused the trial to carry.

The judges also said that there was no evidence to link Ram to the alleged unlawful act and given the deficiencies in the prosecution case, it is not in the interest of justice to order a new trial.

The judges granted leave for appeal, quashed the conviction and acquitted Ram.