#header-inner img {margin: 0 auto !important; #header-inner {text-align: Center ;} Fiji Coupfourpointfive: Another judge gets the heave

Friday, July 13, 2012

Another judge gets the heave

No official announcement but it looks as though Judge Sosefo Inoke is no longer part of the Fiji judiciary.

Inoke was tipped to lose his job by Coupfourpointfive in May after leaked correspondence showed the regime was dumping him.

He was appointed by the former president Josefa Iloilo and sworn in as the same time as Fiji's hanging judge Daniel Goundar, but was terminated at the instigation of the regime's attorney general, Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum.

Inoke: happier times
The regime's chief justice, Anthony Gates, told Inoke in a letter dated April 20 his work 'was commendable, and you have clearly driven many improvements at the Lautoka High Court' but his contract was not going to be renewed.

"Having referred the matter at your request, I have received the same decision back.  Regrettably therefore I must inform you that the decision I had communicated to you before, stands."


Correspondence seen by us revealed a disillusioned Inoke had detailed to Gates rather plaintively the grief of working for an unelected government:

"All legalities aside, what seems to have been lost in all this are the personal sacrifices that I, and my fellow local judicial officers in the same situation that I am in, have made in service to our country and the ridicule that we have had to put up with in the last three years.

"We put our hands up as called upon when others shied away.  We have had to put up with being called “illegal Judge”, “illegal Magistrate” and worse, but despite all that, we have proven them all wrong.  And what do we get in return? Our marching orders.  I feel used for some people’s own personal vendettas and agendas.

"My final pay still remains outstanding despite your direction and my having to call the Chief Registrar three times.  It is now 11 days overdue.  I have lodged my application for my practicing certificate but feel very uneasy that it will be issued despite your promise that all local judicial officers who have had their contracts not renewed will get their certificates.

"I feel compelled to voice my opinion because I fear the independence of our Judiciary as guaranteed under the law is being compromised."

Inoke also wrote to the illegal president Epeli Nailatikau for  help, but his plea fell on deaf ears.

Notice legal decree has been gazetted
Meanwhile where have all the Sri Lankan judges gone? Are more being recruited or are they now applying to open their own law firms?
The Legal Practitioners Decree was recently amended to allow foreign nationals/companies to set-up law firms in Fiji and several are already taking advantage of the opportunity. 
Applications have already come in from three Sri Lankans who are due to be admitted to the Fiji bar on August the 24th.


    Anonymous said...

    Inoke was forced to go but the government would haemorrage if key members (Tikoduadua, Tikoitoga, Aziz etc)jumped ship as Syria's ambassador has done.

    Syria's ambassador to Iraq has defected to the opposition and urged other senior Syrian politicians and members of the military to do the same.

    Nawaf Fares is the first senior Syrian diplomat to abandon the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

    Syria's foreign affairs ministry has responded by formally dismissing him from his post, Sana news agency says.

    Coup 4.5 said...

    We learn from the news that a top Syrian ambassador has defected to Turkey.
    Why would someone who is a "top" state official defect?
    Could it be because he realised - even if belatedly - that the State he was representing had become a rogue state which was hell-bent on persecuting its own people and even killing thousands of them just because they were opposed to the current state rulers?
    Men of conscience would find it hard to serve /continue to serve such a regime.
    I think many people around the world can appreciate where the top defecting diplomat is coming from .
    The man does not want to a part of the tyrannical Syrian state.
    yours sincerely,
    Rajend Naidu

    Anonymous said...

    Read and understand Rajend Naidu's comments at 12:55PM, Is'nt this what Roko Ului did? He did not desert the Fijian military; he defected because the State had become rogue, was persecuting its own people and killed a couple of them just because they supposedly "opposed" the regine

    Anonymous said...

    We should perhaps spend more time working on ways and means of influencing the army that it's about time they turn their guns against its rogue leaders than spending too much time on blogging. Surely there a lot of officers in camp who have more brains than the top brass and have been considering this move for a while now. It's only a matter of time I believe. Your country eagerly awaits your move as we are sick and tired of being run by this mad regime.

    junta Judges said...

    Who cares what happens to junta judges? Every judge in Fiji who has joined the ranks of this human rights abusing repressive junta must pay for their criminal actions. None have any future outside dictatorships. Dogs without principles.

    mark manning said...

    Frank Bainimarama and Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum's Regime.
    It's true that many have been admonished, even abused, for taking up positions with the Regime, but often this was a result of people being unable to make a difference.
    Others criticised because they believed that it was better to stand aside and not to be seen to be supporting the Regime because to do so, would give it legitimacy.
    Of course there were some appointees who took up certain positions in the hope of riding out the wave until Legitimate Democracy was restored.
    The time will come when they can stand tall and explain their actions and be accepted back into the fold.
    Many of us understand that some in positions of Authority, thought that by joining the Regime, they perhaps could in time, return it back to Democracy.

    Anonymous said...

    @Anonymous 1:21
    Add to that The Fijian Army's tendency to shove the barrel of a gun up people's arse (literally) as one politician, SDL Scretary Speight, found out the hard way.
    All his crime was making DVD's on Democracy.

    -Valataka na Dina.

    kite flyer said...

    Now tell me if the regime can so unceremoniously dump one of its own judges - someone who had put his hands up when others shied away - what can ordinary citizens, leave aside democratic opponents expect from such a regime?
    Who is the judge hiring and firing "authority" in Fiji?

    Anonymous said...

    The more relax the Kaivitis the worse the situation will become...Ko ni sa kerei me sa rauta mada na tabetabe.....Na Lotu kei na Vanua...You got to stand up and fight........No angels will come and defend you...they devise the rules and we (security services/government officials-90%Kaiviti) are protecting it for them...

    Anonymous said...

    Why did you join the regime in the first place Mr opportunistic Iosefo? Sorry there's nothing much we the normal thinking people of Fiji can do. For your exit interview talk to Bune, Ului, Ganilau, Chaudry, Jona Senilagakali (oopss he's one foot under). Where's your friend Daniel?

    Anonymous said...

    Why have we not heard from any Sri Lankan Judges or magistrates who didn't leave on happy terms from Fiji?

    Anonymous said...

    Inoke you didn't kiss ass that's why...

    Anonymous said...

    inoke - richard kwan will give you money from the golf id card sale.
    well khaiyum is a user and you fell in his trap.
    sad but you got f by them mate.
    now you can start leading the protest on the regime.

    Anonymous said...


    The syrian ambassador to iraq only jumped the fence after more than a year to safe face otherwise he was gonna face the music.

    Its similar to RUm as he ran away to safe himself.

    Both are for themselves.

    Anonymous said...

    Common fijian on the streets of suva are talking about how the elites made big bucks and let the lay man sacifice for their political aspirations.

    Next is MPC who conned the sugar cane farmers for so long. Had we removed the politics 30 years ago, both the land lord and tenants would have better off economically.

    Lastly, it was MPC who gave such large amount of money to dispalced indian farmers that it killed the sugar industry as it gave them no incentive to stay.

    We need people who will make it a win-win for all fijians.

    Anonymous said...

    poor legal pm facing court and illegal coup makers enjoying free ride in fiji.
    fiji have to put frank and khaiyum /others on trial fr treason.
    where is the police .no guts to arrest frank/cronies.
    sad day fiji legal om facing court.
    i dont see anything wrong with buying shares in fhl.
    if you have money you can buy share in stock market.
    they talk about conflict of interest.
    why only pm lq target .why not others.
    also khaiyum/frank gave job to his brother riaz and daughter litia fsc /fbcl.
    why they not been charged.conflict of interest.
    where is justice.

    Anonymous said...


    And he gave the job to you at Fiji sports council so that u could fill him abt LQ given your protest of what happened there and u obliged.

    U profess to be christain but can u confirm or deny having a mistress here while your wife was in NZ.
    You will also be taken to court, not here but God's court.

    Anonymous said...

    Graham Davis
    Posted July 11, 2012 at 8:29 PM

    The people who are behind Coup 4.5 are despicable. They pose as “democrats” but regularly censor contributions from people with whom they don’t agree. They also turn a blind eye to racism, carry exhortations to beat people who they don’t agree with and have even allowed the publication of instructions on how to make bombs.

    This whole farce takes place behind a cloak of anonymity that makes them among the biggest cowards in cyberspace. They are not democrats but fascists who stand for the restoration of indigenous supremacy and racism.

    They also have no regard for the facts. They publish stories that are lies. And the wonder of it all is that respectable people of the stature of Wadan Narsey and Victor Lal don’t have the moral clarity to reject their values and the vile hatred they promote. They give succour under their own names to people who aren’t worthy to lick the soles of their feet because they won’t put their names to the campaigns they wage.

    It beggars belief that Indo-Fijians like these two hang out with people who call them mynahs or mongoose. They are hanging out with cowards and scum. But apart from that, Coup 4.5 is OK.

    Anonymous said...

    Coup Four Point Five Reader
    Posted July 11, 2012 at 9:02 PM


    I am sure neither you nor the Fiji SUN would open your pages for Victor Lal and Wadan Narsey to write some of the things they have written, especially what Victor has disclosed about the present lot in Fiji, even though some might be unpalatable to us.

    I read all the blogs and make up my own mind what to believe and what not to believe on the blogs.

    In one of your earlier postings, The Politics of Hate, you had written as follows:

    The wonder is that some of 4.5′s content is written by respected journalists and academics who are Indo-Fijians to boot. There are contributions from the Oxford-based Victor Lal – arguably Fiji’s finest investigative journalist – and from the economist Professor Wadan Narsey, currently working in Japan after falling out with his superiors at the University of the South Pacific.

    Grubsheet recently asked Professor Narsey how he could possibly have anything to do with a website that carried overtly racist content. His response was that he’d been told by the “journalists” at 4.5 that it was preferable to allow people to “let off steam than have them bottle it up”

    I wonder if you have ever asked the two Indo-Fijians to write for your blog – I gather that Grubsheet is a blog which is intended solely to carry your own opinion pieces on Fiji?

    Anyway, as an Indo-Fijian I would not want to read anything from these two traitors of the Indo-Fijian community. They should be thrown into Naboro – to feast with George Speight and Laisenia Qarase who migh be joining Speight in the not to distant future.

    Anonymous said...

    On the question of the judiciary, I notice neither Mahend nor the FLP have issued a rebuttal, like they are very quick to do, on the following story in C4/5

    Qarase share charges sprang from FLP claims

    A Coupfourpointfive investigation suggests the former Finance Minister, Mahendra Chaudhry, was behind the initial arrest and the laying of charges against his political adversary, Laisenia Qarase and Sitiveni Waleilekaba by FICAC.

    His allegations, dating back to 2001, was part of his overall claims to dictator Frank Bainimarama that the SDL government led by Qarase, was corrupt.

    Anonymous said...

    'O, the Lord of Law on the Throne of Thought,
    A gilded impostor is he.
    Of shreds and patches his robes are wrought,
    His crown is brass,
    Himself an ass,
    And his power is fiddle-dee-dee.'

    s/ Dakuwaqa

    Anonymous said...

    So much trouble with Fiji judicial system.

    rajend naidu said...

    to anon who pointed out the syrian ambassadar jumped the fence belatedly only to save his own hide could be right. but I think it's still good he defected for whatever reason because it lends credibility to the claim that the regime and in particular president basher's reign in power has become untenable. More top regime men should join in to jump the fence to render the regime defunct.

    Anonymous said...

    fbcl regime radio station calling legal pm as lq .
    why cant they call him depose and legal pm hon qarase.
    they call illegal pm prime minister.
    where is media ethic.te world know the legal pm hon qarase.

    Anonymous said...

    Ahh! Graham C unt Davis is at it again on Fiji Sun. Can someone tell this idiot to shut up?

    Anonymous said...

    Today is Bastille Day, I hope feudalism in this country also ends in 2014...

    Paula said...

    It is good to see some more evidence that our judiciary is truly independent.

    Anonymous said...


    2 points to clarify. Yes its good sign that the syrian ambassador's defection mean the regime is falling but the defection itself is for one's self interest, to be with the winning side irrespective if they are right, legal or otherwise.

    BTW, even the superpowers with UN have not been able to solve the syrian crisis with such large number of death. One must at least acknowledge that at least we have been lucky in this sense.

    Lastly, the problems in Fiji can only be solved if we all agree to find a common ground, willing to give and take for the good of everyone and not be there for self gain. In this regard, we need leaders not politicians.

    Anonymous said...

    Dina says....
    Graham Davis....

    Why not suck Aiyaz & Frank Baini balls....

    You all same bunch of thugs and idiots.

    The judiciary.....this has been same from day one when people like Nazhaat Shammeem ( toi ) and gates & Aiyaz declared 2006 coup legal.

    How can a coup be legal - OMG.

    Only in Fiji..........

    Now they all benefiting from Franks personal coup...

    Naz....& Sharon undressing everywhere...and to earn living but reputation in shits...

    Anonymous said...

    Calamity Davis has developed quite an obsession with Coup 4.5. Hardly a day goes by in which he doesn't denounce the website's open forum. He seems to think it intolerable that Fijians find on C4.5 the freedom denied them by the regime to express their feelings openly and without fear of reprisal. 

    The opprobrium they heap on Davis and the regime he defends contrasts sharply with the fawning treatment accorded him on Fiji's tightly-controlled media. Davis pretends to have a thick skin, but he's clearly wounded by the many aspersions cast on his loyalty and the challenges raised against his claim to citizenship.

    Calamity says that the people behind Coup 4.5 are despicable, but anyone can contribute comments to C4.5. Calamity himself is a frequent contributor. I shouldn't be surprised if even Bainimarama occasionally posts to C4.5, since some of the semi-literate comments read like his past text messages.

    Calamity claims C4.5 regularly censors contributions from people with whom it doesn't agree. Does he cite an example? He recently expelled two posters from his blog. He then does a complete about-turn by arguing that it doesn't censor enough, specifically those statements that he finds objectionable for their allegedly racist or inciteful content.

    Calamity asserts that other C4.5 contributors are cowards for choosing to write in anonymity, dishonestly ignoring their strong incentives for remaining anonymous, given the regime's craven intolerance for dissent and its use of violence against critics. Let Davis deny that he occasionally contributes anonymous comments to C4.5, too.

    Davis says that all C4.5 contributors 'are not democrats but fascists who stand for the restoration of indigenous supremacy and racism.' This is quite a sweeping and ironical statement coming from Fiji's equivalent of Lord Haw-Haw.

    Davis is, after all, the chief apologist for a military thug who usurped power from a democratically-elected coalition government. Among other things, the dictatorship he champions suspended elections, the rights to free speech, worship, and peaceful assembly; tortured regime opponents; busted unions; ignored lawful court rulings; 'abrogated' the Constitution; dismissed Fiji's entire judiciary; foreclosed all rights to due process, etc., etc., -- hardly a paragon of democracy.

    Like Calamity himself, I contribute to C4.5. I don't advocate racism or the restoration of indigenous supremacy. I support the idea of Fiji for all citizens of whatever race, religion or ethnicity. I support 'one man, one vote'. I do support retention of the GCC, but because it is a constitutional institution that can legally be disbanded only under a lawful government and only in accordance with constitutionally-prescribed procedures.

    Yet 'cowards and scum' Calamity calls us -- hurtful insults, were they to come from someone I respected. 

    Such a pity. Since choosing polemics over journalism, this has become Davis' idea of high-minded discourse. 

    Who's the real coward here? Looking past Davis' histrionics, the fact that C4.5 publishes the articles of Wadan Narsey and Victor Lal, while Grubsheet boycotts them, says it all. 

    s/ Dakuwaqa

    Anonymous said...

    The latest casualty is Lt-Col Mason Smith [ PS Agriculture] who according to the Vore is "....now history"!
    Word from the camp is that the Military Council had a BIG hand in him leaving!! WONDER WHY? The cracks are certainly starting to show as Mason USED to be one of the Vore's confidant!
    Never seen him the papers lately!!
    The other casualty is Major Sila Balawa [ ex Protocol of Foreign Affairs] Never seen him the papers neither!!
    Sega sara ga na vaka isaisa kemudrau!
    How are you two going to gel back into society after all the the threats, abuse, bodyguards etc etc?

    kite flyer said...

    s/Dakuwaqa's contribution above tells us one thing about the writer - whoever he or she is the person is clearly an intelligent, clear thinker . the same of course can't be said about certain other contributors.

    Paula Tucaketale said...

    Well the truth is out there for the members of the judiciary. Anyone who crosses Khaiyum will pay the price. You should understand that Aiyaz is drunk with power. They are in this for the long run. The law is what they say it is. Not what you learn from England..inner temple, outer temple or the verandah of the temple.What they expect? People like Sosefo ought to know that this regime does not appoint because of your credentials. It is all about control!!! If they can't control you they will throw people like Sosefo out the same window he climbed in through. So people should read the signs and be bloody smart. Look at what they did to their own people like Rayawa and others after him. Look at Colonel Mason Smith etc. They want control. If those seeking to get appointed by this illegal regime can't deliver their brand of justice then don't expect your contracts to be extended. Unless you guys can front up to Khaiyum and literally kiss and wash his feet with your tears. Then wipe it dry with your hair(that's if you still have any hair left) honestly you fucken lawyers are culprits that have fucked up this beloved country of Fiji. Well I feel sorry for all of you, when the honeymoon will be over. The blood of those the regime have killed cries out from the ground. No amount of your so called good deeds will silence the blood of those killed. Those who are witnesses to these incidents are waiting in fact are already spilling the beans. Time is wearing thin Bainikhaiyum and all you military/judicial personal.You will all face the real law you had better have a get out of jail card when that time comes.

    Sotia said...

    How trues, Dakuwaqa! In Graham Davis' own words Victor Lal is arguably Fiji's finest investigative journalist1 and if so, than all those investigative pieces reating to Frak-Khaiyum and the junta's corruption etc etc etc etc must be TRUE. In that case we should read and believe what Victor Lal writes than to listen to a polemic blogger like Davis. Come it coming, Victor, we look forward to more from you on C4/5. We, the foot soldiers are reading everything you have been disclosing and are waiting in the wings to act against our traitor boss! Wawa, wawa - ignore Davis Haw Haw!!!!!

    Radiolucas said...

    Re: Graham Davis

    An apt phrase, born of the internet age, is "don't feed the troll".

    Graham only writes for his audience of regime-tonguing sycophants. Nothing more. To try to read something more complex into his form of drivel about whether or not C4.5 is right to publish all its posts, is pointless.

    I don't agree with Graham, nor agree with some posters - so we argue. We don't complain about the blog site because that is completely pointless.

    Anonymous said...

    Anonymous 1:52, what's this about 'needing leaders, not politicians'? In other words, Fiji is better off governed by treasonous thugs, carpetbaggers and asswipes who have never stood for election, instead of by our lawfully and democratically elected government? 'Leading Fiji without politics' sounds like Bainimarama's puerile slogan for the elections.

    Anonymous said...

    @ anon 4.11pm..Mason had stolen some money and hid it in the wifes account..he got dismissed..

    Anonymous said...

    Mason Smith and now even Sila Balawa?

    No friend of the regime goes unpunished... by the regime.

    Anonymous said...

    @ July 15 1.00pm..They all follow their leader..he helps himself to the national treasury without consent of the taxpayers and so does his workers cause aunty Nur Bano Ali is giving tips away to the waiters at holiday Inn..And still theres no proper audit of where the money is going and coming cause they conterol the media and would only print and broadcast praises and accolades to their mischivious works..what a joke fiji has become..

    Anonymous said...

    WTF , if Mason Smith stole money, how come this has not been reported to police and FICAC.

    If Mason Smith stole money and has not been charged then Joketani Cokanasiga is complicit in the theft of public funds and should be charged.

    If Smith has not stolen money, then Cokanasiga needs to do the honourable thing and say so.

    Anonymous said...

    Mason Smith impressed me as one of the most capable administrators the regime had, civilian or military alike. In fact, I sometimes wondered what such a bright officer was doing in such a treasonous regime.

    I've seen the claims of theft made and repeated in comments to C4.5, but ever without substantiation. 

    Pray tell me how a PS for Agriculture could possibly steal such large sums? On the face of it, the allegation sounds pretty incredible. 

    The most honourable course for a military officer in December 2006 would have been to refuse Bainimarama's illegal orders, resign rather than commit treason, and join other loyal Fijians in active resistance. Accordingly, military service to Bainimarama's regime already calls into question Smith's judgment and character. But what is alleged here is a crime of moral turpitude, and the allegation simply isn't credible to me when baldly stated without corroboration of any kind.

    Might Mason Smith's resignation instead be related to what one poster claimed several days ago, which was that Smith and Iowane Naivalurua have bucked Baininimarama's calls to support him in the upcoming election, assuming there is one?

    If I'm wrong about Smith, then let the chips fall where they may. But until someone can present some details, I can only regard the claims of theft or embezzlement as vicious and unsubstantiated rumours.

    s/ Dakuwaqa

    Anonymous said...

    I agree with 10.53pm Col Mason Smith was one of the best this regime had in government..these claims of theft are not true as everyone knows, he speaks his mind..and I think that was his downfall.. You can tell if a man kisses ass or not!! He definitely doesn't.. kudos to you Col Smith..

    Food Critic said...

    Dakuwaqa, you're turning sentimental on us again.

    Defending Mason Smith? By my count, you've defended in one way or another Epeli Nailatikau, Iowane Naivalurua, Robin Nair, Tevita Mara, Epeli Ganilau, Croz Walsh, Graham Davis, and now Mason Smith. Yet, you've also been one of their toughest critics. 

    Fair-minded or fickle, marinated, grilled or pickled -- you're always surprising... and my favorite fish.


    Anonymous said...


    Why did army officers, such as Maj. Mason Smith decide to side with Bainimarama in executing the coup in 2006 when they could have easily resigned?

    A plausible answer is that they all wanted to dip their fingers into the government coffers and eat and also have a share of the pie invested in there by the sweat of the people through hard work and foresightedness of their true representatives.

    The unaudited funds these soldiers had in their own organization was not there any more. That is why the audit department was not permitted to audit their books.

    Some of the saddest people in this whole hideous affair are those who decided to side with the illegal regime at the start, gained favour and promotion through nepotism, abused their office, sacked by the regime they once aligned themselves to, taken to the kangaroo trial, and then convicted through the illegal decrees they helped their idol ASK to establish without the blessing of the people.

    Anonymous said...

    Food Critic @ 9:17, thanks for the sentiment... I think. I prefer my meat raw, with just a swimsuit for garnish.

    And just for the record, I'll admit I have been pickled on occasion, but I've certainly never received 18 million dollars.

    Anonymous @ 11:50, your questions are quite valid, and your observations are so true. Even more pitiable are those few, naïve but well-meaning individuals who tried to work with the regime in good faith but found themselves sacked because they still had a few scruples left -- bugger all the good it will do them when they go to their next job interview.

    This regime will careen on its path of personal destruction to the very end, leaving human wreckage strewn all along the way. Prominent amongst the detritus of treason will be erstwhile regime accomplices, stooges, symps, and co-enablers -- some of whom are still in self-denial today but will awaken to a cold reality one approaching dawn.

    s/ Dakuwaqa

    Anonymous said...

    @Anon 11.50am

    Easily resign and do what?? Everyone knows there's hardly any jobs to go around. What will a career military officer do outside of the military..not much!! So shut your yap, becoz you almost sound like my crying 1 yr old baby..

    Anonymous said...

    2.48p.m sounds bitter, probably a career bootlicker.

    Anonymous said...

    'All legalities aside...' Sad, but this phrase is probably Judge Sosefo Inoke's biggest contribution to the tragic procession of Fiji jurisprudence.

    Anonymous said...


    Anonymous said...

    For Mason Smith, yes everyone knows that fact. But can anyone prove or verify that Mr.Balawa has indeed participated this deed?

    Vani smith said...

    Well ! I if it’s true I should be a millionaire by now ..
    Then y m still working so hard to help my husband and kids .
    Please leave my family alone .