Former Police Commissioner Geoffrey Vaki

A unanimous decision of the three-man Supreme Court bench was handed down today at 1.30pm, a short time after another Supreme Court bench consisting of three other judges dismissed the appeal filed by 40-year police veteran Toami Kulunga against his conviction and sentence.

While Kulunga will serve his seven months’ jail term at Bomana for contempt of court charges, Vaki is now a free man after the Supreme Court set aside his conviction and sentence, acquitting him on two charges of contempt of court.

This comes after the court on Aug 16 agreed with an earlier Supreme Court decision that two parties in the respective cases require the approval of the Attorney General to engage private lawyers to represent them.

The cases are SCA 7/2016, an appeal that originates from OS JR 485 of 2014, the judicial review into the PM’s arrest warrant issue and the case involving the former Police Commissioner, Geoffrey Vaki, challenging his conviction and sentencing last year for contempt of court.

The former Police Commissioner and his lawyer Sam Bonner appeared before the National Court this morning (Nov 4) after he failed to return to court for call over on Monday (Nov 2).

Vaki however went to the court registry after lunch on Monday and was told he was supposed to appear that morning. He was later told to appear today.

Bonner said his non-appearance on Monday was due to  there being no communication between him and the Public Prosecutors’ office on the return date.