Rabuka appears in court for allegedly breaching bail conditions

SODELPA Leader Sitiveni Rabuka appeared before Magistrate Jioji Boseiwaqa this afternoon after he was charged with allegedly breaching bail conditions in his case.

It is alleged that Rabuka spoke to a FICAC witness in the case.

FICAC lawyer Rashmi Aslam said that this is a serious matter and they are not sure if Rabuka knows the specifics about his bail conditions.

Rabuka pleaded not guilty to approaching a witness connected to his case on the 18th of June this year.

Rabuka’s lawyer, Devanesh Sharma said that since Rabuka has pleaded not guilty, Sharma suggested that the court takes a practical approach and let Rabuka go with a stern warning.

Sharma also said that the prosecution has not finalised the list of witnesses for the case.

He said that maybe Rabuka could not understand his bail condition.

Sharma also said that the witness himself had approached Rabuka on several occasions.

Aslam said that Rabuka is an educated man and he has asked for his rights to be read in the English language so the bail condition is clear.

He also said that in fairness to Rabuka, he has cooperated with FICAC so in light of the cooperation FICAC will consider that if the court thinks a stern warning will suffice then Aslam will leave it to the court.

Devanesh Sharma said that they realize the seriousness of the case and they will speak to Rabuka.

Magistrate Jioji Boseiwaqa has ordered that Rabuka stay away from the witnesses.

Rabuka’s case has been adjourned to the 27th of this month.

It is alleged that Rabuka made a false declaration of assets and liabilities to the Supervisor of Elections by failing to provide information namely, the tax liability with Fiji Revenue and Customs Service in the amount of $316,956, the investment and interest income with Raghwan Construction Limited in the amount of $200,000 and $16,000 respectively and the liability with Raghwan Construction in the amount of $120,000, contrary to the Political Parties Act.

The alleged incident occurred on 29th December last year.