Fiji's former land force commander found guilty of inciting mutiny

Fiji's High Court Judge Justice Paul Madigan on Tuesday found former Land Force Commander Pita Driti guilty of inciting mutiny, overturning three assessors' opinion who had earlier found him not guilty. Driti, charged with one count of inciting mutiny and another count of committing a seditious act, has been remanded in custody as mitigation and sentencing submissions will be heard on Dec. 10. Madigan took about one and a half hours to deliver his decision after the three assessors returned a not guilty verdict on Driti in a packed High Court in Suva, where he said Driti was not to be believed. It was heard in court that between Aug. 1, 2010 and Oct. 31, 2010 in Suva, Driti knew that Manasa Tagicakibau, a witness of this legal case, was serving in the Republic of the Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) and therefore attempted to seduce him from his duty and allegiance to the country and planned an overthrow of the government. Driti, also in that period, uttered seditious words to the effect that Fiji's Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum should be removed for he was deemed influential in a lot of critical decisions in Fiji and moored the government away from its initial chartered course. Driti allegedly said at the same time that Prime Minister and Commander of the RFMF Commodre Voreqe Bainimarama no longer had the leadership appointment and had lost credibility and needed to be removed from his position. It was said in court that if President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau refused to accept the proposal, then there was no other option but to remove him in the presence of Tagicakibau. Madigan said he has analyzed the evidence and directed himself on his own summing up. He said the strength of the prosecution case was found in Tagicakibau's evidence, and he found Tagicakibau to be an honest and convincing witness and that he did not believe the evidence of Driti, who was evasive and divertive. In Fiji, the maximum sentence for mutiny is life imprisonment.