Lautoka-based human rights lawyer Aman Ravindra-Singh will spend 10 months in prison when he is found.
The High Court in Suva issued a bench warrant against him when he did not turn up to be sentenced after he was found guilty of being in contempt of court, for not complying with the order of the court in the 2020 decision against him in a defamation case where he was sued by Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama and Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.
The committal proceedings were brought against by the PM and AG alleging Ravindra-Singh was in contempt of court for not paying them $120,000 in damages to their reputations in a Facebook post, not removing the said post immediately, and not issuing a public apology in the print media.
Ravindra-Singh informed the court that he complied with the orders and challenged those allegations in a permanent stay application where he said they were wrong and misled the court.
Justice Jude Nanayakkara sentenced Ravindra-Singh to 10 months of immediate imprisonment and issued the bench warrant upon the application by Gul Fatima, the lawyer for the PM and AG.
More details in tomorrow’s edition of The Fiji Times.
