Leader of Fiji's Labour Party considers appeal

Transcript

The leader of Fiji's Labour Party is now considering an appeal after being sentenced to what is thought to be Fiji's largest ever fine.

Mahendra Chaudhry has been given until the end of next month to pay over one million US dollars, or face going to jail.

But whether he pays or not, his political future is in serious doubt.

Jamie Tahana reports.

Mahendra Chaudhry had already been found guilty of having banked almost 1.5 million US dollars outside Fiji without having the consent of the Reserve Bank when he appeared in Suva's High Court for sentencing on Friday. One of the journalists in Court to witness Chaudhry's sentencing was Rosemary Masitabua. She says many inside the courtroom were surprised when he wasn't handed a jail sentence.

ROSEMARY MASITABUA: When he came out of court, Mr Chaudhry was asked how he felt, and he replied that it was a big relief. So did his wife. And when he [was] asked if he would pay the fine he replied that he was still thinking about it.

Mahendra Chaudhry - who was once the Prime Minister of Fiji in 1999 and 2000 - was  fined 1.1 million US dollars.
The fine has to be paid by the 30th of June or he will face 15 months in jail. But Chaudhry says the fine will be difficult to pay, and his lawyers are looking into the sentence and will decide whether to appeal next week.

MAHENDRA CHAUDHRY: It will be difficult for me to meet that deadline and that's why I've asked my lawyers to look at the possibility of an appeal. So depending on their advice, we'll see what to do.

Chaudhry says some big questions linger over the case, such as the fact one of the character witnesses, Father Kevin Barr's testimony was found invalid because of remarks he made against the current government. Also pertinent is the fact the regime cleared him of the same allegations in 2008, when he was a regime ally, but when he left the government's side, the allegations suddenly resurfaced. Chaudhry says that has a lot of people questioning the prosecution's motives.

MAHENDRA CHAUDHRY: We ourselves in our submissions alluded to that, that I had been cleared of the very same allegations by an independent inquiry, and then some 18 months later they started initiating investigations on the same matter again. I had a letter also from the Prime Minister once the investigation cleared me in which he said that given the findings of the inquiry this is no longer an issue.

A Fiji academic at the Australian National University, Dr Brij Lal, says there is evidence of regime involvement in this case.

BRIJ LAL: There is a widespread feeling among many, many people that the regime was very keen to get rid of people it considered to be potential opponents, to get rid of them from the political scene.

Mahendra Chaudhry refused to comment on his future in politics, but the fact he holds a conviction now rules him out of contesting this year's election. But Dr Lal says Chaudhry's career is now all but over.

BRIJ LAL: He is 72 years of age, and he has been in politics for a very, very long time. You know, he was Prime Minister in 1999, was the finance minister in 1987, was Fiji's most formidable trade union leader and for him now to meet this fate is sad for him and I think is sad for his party because he was, effectively, the Fiji Labour Party.

The Labour Party President, Lavinia Padarath, was unable to be reached for immediate comment, but the party says it will release a statement soon.