Strained relationships among some of Fiji's senior judges have raised some concerns about the conduct of the trials. The Fiji Sun claimed on 3 November 2005 that documents in their possession revealed that three Justices – Nazhat Shameem, Anthony Gates and John Byrne – had written to Chief Justice Daniel Fatiaki asking that Justice Michael Scott be excluded from any Supreme Court panel hearing appeals against any of their cases, saying that Scott had exercised "extreme hostility" toward them ever since the upheaval of 2000. They alleged that he had demanded an inquiry into their conduct and had threatened to sue them on his own retirement from the bench. Shameem unsuccessfully applied to have Scott excluded from the panel hearing the appeal of former Senator Ratu Rakuita Vakalalabure, who was convicted by Shameem of coup-related offences.