All the defence lawyers in the sedition trial of The Fiji Times and others have asked the High Court Judge, Thushara Rajasinghe to end the case as they say that there is no evidence to prove that Josaia Waqabaca’s letter in the Nai Lalakai is seditious.
Nai Lalakai Editor, Anare Ravula’s lawyer Devanesh Sharma said Waqabaca’s letter did not promote feelings of ill will and hostility.
Sharma says it was simply to raise concern about the iTaukei.
He says when Waqabaca said in the letter that Muslims are not owners of Fiji, it meant that they are not the indigenous of Fiji.
Sharma also says that Ravula did not make any comments in the Police caution interview on whether he had received a letter from Waqabaca.
He says when Waqabaca was asked if he had given the letter to Ravula, Waqabaca had said yes but did not specify which letter.
Sharma says this case must come to an end as there is no evidence of a seditious act.
Fiji Times lawyer, Wylie Clarke says there is no evidence that the board of the Fiji Times had authorised the commissioning of the offence.
Clarke also says that there has never been any evidence to the committing of the offence.
In his oral submission in the High Court this afternoon, Josaia Waqabaca’s lawyer Aman Ravindra-Singh said they do not dispute that the article was submitted but they dispute that it is seditious.
He says no oral or written evidence by the prosecution proves that the article was seditious.
He said the Police Officer that conducted the investigation did not conduct a complete investigation as it would have been interesting if he interviewed the Attorney General to see if he had an issue with the article.
Singh also said there has been no evidence two months after the article was published that it caused hostility or feelings of ill will which would give weight to the prosecution’s case.
He said the article had nothing to do with Muslims in Fiji as it was historical.
Aman Ravindra-Singh said his client Josaia Waqabaca never said “I hate Muslims” or “I will kill Muslims” in the article.
He also said the article does not have a seditious tendency referring to a comment made by the Prime Minister in 2016 that people who want gay marriage should go to Iceland.
Singh said to say it has a seditious tendency is very dangerous.
In his oral submission, Marc Corlett who represents Fiji Times Publisher Hank Arts and Editor in Chief Fred Wesley, said there is no relevant or admissible evidence of an act done or any culpable admission.
He said Arts is being prosecuted because of his status as a Publisher but he did not commit any act.
He said the prosecution only relies on the doctrine of editorial responsibility pointing out that Arts maybe away on holiday and had nothing to do with the act.
Corlett also said the prosecution relies on the idea that Fred Wesley was obligated under contractual duty.
Justice Rajasinghe then asked if Fred Wesley had any such duty in his contract.
Corlett said Fred Wesley was under the practical duty to assist Hank Arts by ensuring editorial standards are maintained.
He said it isn’t Wesley’s duty to stop the publication.
Assistant DPP, Lee Burney has highlighted during his submission to the No case to answer application that the article published in the Nai Lalakai was clearly open to a number of interpretations.
Fiji Times Limited, Publisher Hank Arts and Contributor, Josaia Waqabaca have pleaded not guilty to sedition while Fiji Times Editor Fred Wesley and Nai Lalakai Editor Anare Ravula have pleaded not guilty to aiding and abetting sedition.
It is alleged that Fiji Times printed the Nai Lalakai newspaper which contained an article which had content with a seditious intention to promote feelings of ill will and hostility between classes of the population.
