Man’s application for leave to appeal rape conviction dismissed

The Fiji Court of Appeal has dismissed the application for leave to appeal against conviction of a man who was sentenced for raping his 11-year-old cousin in Rakiraki.

The 20-year-old man was sentenced to 12 years and 7 and a half months of imprisonment with a non-parole period of 9 years in July 2018.

The man had appealed that the trial Judge erred in law when he failed to thoroughly and properly and independently assess the complainant’s evidence and its own contradictions which raised a reasonable doubt in the State’s case and the judge’s failure in relying on the complainant’s contradictory evidence caused a miscarriage of justice against the man.

He had also said that the judge erred in law when he convicted him without giving cogent reasons for disagreeing with the unanimous opinion of the assessors.

While giving his ruling, Justice Chandana Prematilaka says the judge had given convincing reasons why he disagreed with the assessors and agree with the minority view that the man was guilty.

Justice Prematilaka says having examined the summing-up and the judgment, he is convinced that the judge’s finding of guilty against the man was supported by the weight of evidence and nothing had seriously affected the credibility of the complainant.