Corrupt Fiji Judge Sentences Innocent Australian Man to Life in Prison
Corrupt Fiji Judge Sentences Innocent Australian Man to Life in Prison
The issue
A Sydney tow truck driver is facing life imprisonment in Fiji after what he claims was a dream holiday gone terribly wrong.
Mr Abourizk was arrested in July last year, just days after his wife flew back to Australia for work commitments. He was wrongly accused of possession of almost 50 kilograms of cocaine packed in two suitcases at Vuda Marina.
Mr Abourizk's case is that he agreed and then he travelled to the nearby town of Ba with the captain and Fijian man Josese Muriwaqa.
The captain then loaded two suitcases into the back of the car and the trio headed back to Vuda to take a boat out for a day trip.
When the group were driving back to the marina, the captain got out of the car shortly before Mr Abourizk and Mr Muriwaqa were arrested by Fijian police.
He and Mr Muriwaqa were each charged with one count of unlawful possession of illicit drugs.
He has spent the last nine months in jail and missed the birth of his first child – a baby girl called Penelope. Despite all members of the jury finding Joseph innocent, the Judge exercised his wrongful discretion and sentenced him to a life in prison.
No evidence was presented to the court to substantiate or support the ruling. No evidence of an apparent payment made, no evidence through DNA (or any finger print evidence on the bags). Joseph was set up by the Yacht Captain who placed his bags in the back of his car to which he was subsequently blamed for.
This petition is simply to raise awareness of the level of corruption in Fiji and in the hopes of attracting attention to the issue. An innocent man will lose his life in the prisons of Fiji, while his wife and baby daughter attempt to make ends meet with a father and husband missing from their lives.
For further information please click:
Please sign the petition and share amongst each other.
The issue
A Sydney tow truck driver is facing life imprisonment in Fiji after what he claims was a dream holiday gone terribly wrong.
Mr Abourizk was arrested in July last year, just days after his wife flew back to Australia for work commitments. He was wrongly accused of possession of almost 50 kilograms of cocaine packed in two suitcases at Vuda Marina.
Mr Abourizk's case is that he agreed and then he travelled to the nearby town of Ba with the captain and Fijian man Josese Muriwaqa.
The captain then loaded two suitcases into the back of the car and the trio headed back to Vuda to take a boat out for a day trip.
When the group were driving back to the marina, the captain got out of the car shortly before Mr Abourizk and Mr Muriwaqa were arrested by Fijian police.
He and Mr Muriwaqa were each charged with one count of unlawful possession of illicit drugs.
He has spent the last nine months in jail and missed the birth of his first child – a baby girl called Penelope. Despite all members of the jury finding Joseph innocent, the Judge exercised his wrongful discretion and sentenced him to a life in prison.
No evidence was presented to the court to substantiate or support the ruling. No evidence of an apparent payment made, no evidence through DNA (or any finger print evidence on the bags). Joseph was set up by the Yacht Captain who placed his bags in the back of his car to which he was subsequently blamed for.
This petition is simply to raise awareness of the level of corruption in Fiji and in the hopes of attracting attention to the issue. An innocent man will lose his life in the prisons of Fiji, while his wife and baby daughter attempt to make ends meet with a father and husband missing from their lives.
For further information please click:
Please sign the petition and share amongst each other.
Petition Closed
Share this petition
The Decision Makers
Petition Updates
Share this petition
Petition created on 21 April 2016