For the third time, a mistrial application in Fiji, filed by the defence for the fifteen Ra people charged with sedition, has been dismissed by the Lautoka High Court.
The FBC reported that one of the defence lawyers told the court on Tuesday that his clients were denied their right to a fair trial.
This came after the judge Justice Aruna Aluthge ruled against an oral mistrial application by lawyer Aman Ravindra-Singh.
Photo: Fiji Government
Mr Ravindra-Singh had told the court that the judge should not base his ruling on prosecution arguments that the applications were a waste of the court's time.
He said the applications were serious and the lives of the accused persons depended on them.
The court also heard closing submissions when both prosecution and defence lawyers restated the main points of their arguments to the assessors.
The judge is to sum up the case on Friday.