Rakuita Vakalalabure

Ratu Rakuita Saurara Vakalalabure (born 1962) is a Fijian lawyer and politician. He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1999 and following the elections after the 2000 political uphevals was a candidate of the Conservative Alliance (CAMV). He was re-elected to the House of Representatives, winning the Cakaudrove West Fijian Communal Constituency in the parliamentary election of 2001, following in the footsteps of his father, Ratu Tevita Vakalalabure, who was Vunivalu (Paramount Chief) of Natewa, in Cakaudrove Province, and who served in both houses of Parliament from the 1970s to the 1990s. He was subsequently appointed Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, but on 5 August 2004, he was sentenced to six years' imprisonment for his role in the Fiji coup of 2000.

Education and early career

Vakalalabure studied at the University of the South Pacific for a Science degree in 1981 but left in 1983to join the RFMFand completed six tours of duty with the Fijian Military in South Lebanon. He went on to complete a Law degree at Bond University in Queensland, [Australia] ] and later received his masters degree in Law from England. After returning to Fiji, he served as a state prosecutor for four years under the then-Director of Public Prosecutions, Nazhat Shameemand three years as Legal Officer and Board Secretary for the Civil Aviation Authority of Fiji. In an ironic twist, he was later to be convicted and sentenced for coup-related offences by Shameem, now a judge.

Vakalalabure was also a reserve officer in the Fijian army. He was dismissed by Military commander Commodore Frank Bainimarama for insubordination, for refusing to return to barracks while the 2000 coup was in progress.

Treason conviction

Vakalalabure, who was taken hostage as a member of parliament at the time of the insurrection, was found guilty of illegally accepting and taking an oath of office for a ministerial position in the rebel government proposed by George Speight, the chief instigator of the coup. An investigation had uncovered incriminating documents in a briefcase belonging to Vakalalabure, and he was filmed being sworn in as Minister for Justice in an emotional ceremony. He was jailed in Korovou prison, alongside former Vice-President Ratu Jope Seniloli, Peceli Rinakama, Viliame Volavola, and Viliame Savu.

He was allowed out of prison on 17 May 2005 to attend the funeral of his father, who had died on 6 May.

On May 25 2005, the High Court upheld an earlier decision of the Parliamentary Speaker, Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, to expel Vakalalabure from Parliament for nonattendance. Vakalalabure sued, claiming that Nailatikau's refusal to grant him leave of absence from the House for more than two sessions breached British parliamentary rules, on which Fiji's are based. Justice Filimoni Jitoko, however, struck out Vakalalabure's claim, ruling that Nailatikau's actions were constitutional and followed precedent.

Ratu Rakuita Vakalalabure was also deregistered by the Fiji Law Society and disbarred from practicing. This decision has been appealed to the Court of Appeal.

Sentence appealed and reduced

Lautoka lawyer Iqbal Khan announced on 30 August 2005 that he had filed an application on behalf of Vakalalabure and of Ratu Inoke Takiveikata, who was also convicted of coup-related offenses, to have their convictions quashed. Khan claimed that the two had been denied a fair trial according to Section 29 of the Constitution of Fiji, as the trial assessors had been handpicked and therefore possibly biased.

At a court appearance on 17 October 2005, Vakalalabure argued that his conviction was invalid, as the treason charge is subject to a two-year statute of limitations which had expired by the time of his being charged and that the sentence was wrong as it reflected other offences not attributable to Vakalalabure or to which he was not allowed to respond to. On this basis, he claimed, he was entitled to a retrial.

The decision on Vakalalabure's final appeal was delayed after judge Shameem (who had convited Vakalalabure) applied for the Supreme Court to reconstitute its panel of three judges as she believed they would be biased. The Supreme Court refused her application and it was the first time in Fiji that a judge whose decision is appealed against had made such an application. Cost were ordered against her and the State.

On 15 June 2006, Chief Justice Daniel Fatiaki, as president of the Supreme Court, reduced Vakalalabure's prison sentence from six years to four, finding that others convicted with him had received lesser sentences. He was released on 6 July [2006] and served the remaining five months of his sentence on community work with a christian organisatiion in Suva] .

Expulsion from Parliament

Following the High Court's decision, President Ratu Josefa Iloilo declared Rakuita's parliamentary seat vacant on 8 June 2005 and issued a writ for a byelection, which was expected to cost F$450,000. His older brother, Ratu Osea Vakalalabure announced his candidacy, though as a candidate for the United Fiji Party of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, rather than the CAMV to which Ratu Rakuita belongs, but withdrew on 22 June in favour of the CAMV candidate, Niko Nawaikula, who was declared elected unopposed, thus averting the byelection.