Pacific / Fiji

Fiji rugby star's rape appeal returns to court

07:36 am on 19 November 2020

Former Fiji rugby sevens star Amenoni Nasilasila has been given until 4 December to file and serve affidavits to the court.

The Olympic gold medallist is appealing his eight-year sentence for the rape of a young woman in 2018.

Amenoni Nasilasila in action for Fiji on the World Sevens Series. Photo: PHOTOSPORT

In court Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions, Lee Burney, said they had received the affidavit in reply by Nasilasila's lawyer, Mosese Naivalu.

Naivalu sought to have the affidavit submitted to the State, paginated and certain iTaukei messages in the affidavit be translated into English.

Naivalu told the court this was because the copies before the court registry and the trial counsels had not had their pages numbered.

But Burney argued the messages were believed to be linked to Nasilasila's previous relationship with the victim and had not been an issue during the criminal trial last year.

Justice Chandana Prematilaka told Naivalu that all matters should have been addressed before the court process had started.

Naivalu indicated that either he or someone from his office would translate the messages.

But Justice Prematilaka said the translation of the messages should be done by someone competent in language translation and acceptable to the court.

He gave Naivalu until 4 December to file and serve six paginated fresh copies of the affidavit.

The affidavits must also contain the translated messages and provided to the trial counsels, the judge said.

Justice Prematilaka gave both sides until 28 December to respond to the filed affidavit.

Meanwhile, there is also a bail pending appeal application by Nasilasila which will be heard on 29 December.