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*We had remained aloof until the Tribunal, led by Justice Anare Tuilevuka, began hearing evidence, including that of the former A-G Aiyaz Khaiyum.
*No one is better placed than our Founding Editor-in-Chief to reflect and recall the appalling treatment of the deposed Chief Justice Daniel Fatiaki at the hands of Aiyaz Khaiyum and Christopher Pryde (acting on the instruction of his judicial boss Khaiyum) during the 'Fatiaki Tribunal' in 2008. As we pointed out recently, Pryde (on the instructions of his bully boy boss) forced the late Fiji Sun publisher Russell Hunter to publish a 'Right to Reply' following an Opinion Piece by our Founding Editor-in-Chief where he had questioned why Fiji's Interim Finance Minister Mahendra Pal Chaudhry, accused of tax evasion by our Editor-in-Chief, was not subjected to a Tribunal hearing but the deposed CJ Fatiaki was being dragged before a three-member Tribunal over his TAX matters with FIRCA.
*Our Editor-in-Chief had (and still has scores of documents) that reveal the hounding of Fatiaki out of office so that the then Interim regime could appoint Justice Anthony Gates as the new Chief Justice of Fiji.
*Ironically, Pryde's appointed lawyer Adish Narayan (whom he couldn't retain because his (Pryde's) salary has been stopped), was the lawyer who had acted on behalf of Attorney-General Aiyaz Khaiyum in negotiating a financial package that saw Fatiaki resign, take $275,000 and leave for Vanuatu to become CJ there.
*The present A-G Graham Leung represented Daniel Fatiaki during the financial negotiations.
*Again, we have nothing personal against Pryde and wish him all the best but it beggars belief that Aiyaz Khaiyum, in his typically cavalier attitude, had the audacity to stop and chat with Pryde (even if was to do with their children) at the Japanese Ambassador's residence in February 2023.
*As for Audio-Visual Link, we wonder if Christopher Pryde had thought of appearing before the Tribunal via AVL, if legal cost and the stopping of his salary was the motivating factor to withdraw from Tribunal hearing.
*As we pointed out at the beginning, he had acquired a wealth of experience and knowledge from the 'Fatiaki Tribunal' to mount his OWN case before the Justice Tuilevuka led Tribunal, and via AVL from NZ.
*Basically, if you are unable to appear in Court or a Tribunal, either as a party or witness, you may file an application to appear by way of AVL.
*Karma is like a bus, it might arrive late, but it does arrive at the bus stop.
