Prominent Fiji businessman Mahendra Patel, owner of the Motibhai conglomerate, has been jailed for a year on a corruption charge.
Patel, who suffers from diabetes and has large family interests in New Zealand, and since last year owner of the Fiji Times, was handed down the sentence by the High Court in Suva yesterday.
The three assessors sitting at the trial found Patel not guilty, but Justice Daniel Goundar, over-ruled them and found him guilty on Tuesday.
Mr Justice Goundar, said he would not consider a suspended sentence, jailed Patel for 12 months at Korovou Prison, just outside Suva city.
Patel was convicted in his role as chairman of Fiji Post along with its managing director Tevita Peni Mau, who was jailed for nine months.
They were both found guilty of abuse of office under military decrees over the purchase by Fiji Post of an electronic clock worth the equivalent of $75,000 from Prouds Fiji Ltd, owned by Motibhai.
The charges were laid by the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC), set up by military strongman Voreqe Bainimarama after his 2006 coup in which he vowed to stamp out corruption.
In 2009, Bainimarama fired all the judges and purported to abolish the constitution, leaving FICAC to operate by military decree.
Mr Justice Goundar became a justice in the new military controlled courts and he heard the case against Patel and Mau.
Patel's lawyer Hemendra Nagin said his client was a diabetic and normally travelled abroad for medical treatment.
His jailing marks a bizarre move by the military regime who, until now, have enjoyed the support of Fiji's Indian business elite.
After Bainimarama forced media magnate Rupert Murdoch out of Fiji, Patel stepped in and purchased the Fiji Times.