THE Court of Appeal has acquitted a man serving 12 years in prison for cultivating 32 marijuana plants on Kadavu.
Acura Qaranivalu was charged, prosecuted and found guilty following a trial in the High Court in Suva in 2017.
He was sentenced for a count of unlawful cultivation of illicit drugs committed on January 3, 2012, at Vuravu farm in Daku Village. The marijuana plants weighed 11.0 kilograms.
Aggrieved with the decision, Qaranivalu filed a timely appeal against conviction and sentence.
According to Appeal Justices Isikeli Mataitoga, Alipate Qetaki and Gus Andrée Wiltens, the finding of guilt at Qaranivalu’s trial was unreasonable and not supported by evidence.
The justices said there were too many gaps in the evidence regarding the critical elements of the charge.
In conclusion, the court found the verdict of guilty was unreasonable and not supported by evidence provided during the trial.
“The court orders that (Qaranivalu’s) conviction be quashed,” the judges ruled on November 28.
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