The smell of rotting fish in the courthouse.

The recent trial for plotting to kill the Prime Minister and Commander of the RFMF has the odor of rotting fish.

FijiToday has been investigating the case including several clandestine meetings  with a senior serving officer in the RFMF.

FijiToday can confirm the Chief Registrar of the High Court, former army lawyer Major Ana Rokomokoti is still listed as being on active duty with the RFMF.

FijiToday can confirm that the Chief Registrar nominated both the judge and the assessors for this case.

FijiToday can now confirm that three of the five assessors in this case are serving or territorial members of the military.

To avoid a conflict of interests these assessors should have stated their conflict and asked to be removed from the case of plotting to kill their superior officer.  The assessors were also to hear from other fellow officers giving evidence. 

The fact that none of the three asked to be removed  implies a level of organized staging of the trial.

FijiToday questions the odds of this being random. Our expert mathematician states the odds of three serving soldiers being nominated for any trial at 1 in 2.7 million. For this specific and critical trial the odds are incalculable.

The lawyers concerned were in no position to argue against the choices of the Chief Registrar Major Rokomokoti as she is also the person who gets to decide if they are issued with a practicing license to be a lawyer.