Yvette Nikolic arrives back at Melbourne Airport after being found not guilty
Yvette Nikolic, the wife of accused drug smuggler John Nikolic, has made a dramatic arrival at Melbourne Airport after being found not guilty of all charges at her trial in Fiji.
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Yvette Nikolic has sprinted through Melbourne Airport to freedom after being found not guilty of drugs charges.
The wife of former Melbourne horse trainer John Nikolic was the first passenger off the Virgin flight from Fiji and dashed up the elevator with Tania Hyett, the partner of Yvette’s brother-in-law, Danny Nikolic, to the airport carpark.
There was no one there to welcome her home as she raced through the international arrrivals area.
Yvette, who was wearing denim jeans, runners and a black hoodie, with her hair pulled back in a tight ponytail, did not make any comment.
She walked free from the Suva High Court on Monday after sobbing with joy and relief as Justice Daniel Goundar handed down his decision that she had “no case to answer”.
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Yvette then walked across the road from the court to the Holiday Inn hotel where her brother-in-law, jockey Danny Nikolic, and his partner, Tania Hyett, have been staying and the family were seen celebrating with a bottle of champagne or wine.
Ms Nikolic’s Australian lawyer Jason Murakami told News Corp on Monday Yvette was trying to get on the first flight she could out of Fiji.
“She is expected back on the Gold Coast in the next 24 hours, where she is desperate to see her family and her two children,” Mr Murakami said.
However, another lawyer said Ms Nikolic was headed to Melbourne with Danny and Tania.
Addressing the media outside the Suva High Court immediately after the ruling, Ms Nikolic’s Fiji lawyer, Ronald Gordon, said on Monday it had been “a long eight months” and his client had maintained her innocence from the start.
“We have always maintained she was not guilty of any of the charges and today (Monday) we heard the judge find in favour of my client and say there was no evidence at all against her in relation to any of the charges, so we are thankful to the Fiji criminal justice system. We’ve been vindicated,” Mr Gordon said.
In an unexpected development in the trial of alleged drug smuggler John Nikolic, the case has been adjourned until the end of the month for summation.
Mr Nikolic, who is charged with drug importation, drug possession and weapons offences, will not present a defence and the prosecution has chosen not to make closing submissions, meaning the trial will come to a close when Justice Daniel Goundar sums up at on February 28.
If found guilty, Mr Nikolic will then be sentenced.
Both Yvette, referred to as the first accused, and John, the second accused, were charged with drug importation, drug possession and weapons offences, after Fiji authorities found 13 bars of cocaine, ecstasy tablets, undeclared weapons and ammunition on their yacht, Shenanigans, during a raid on June 22 last year.
In his ruling, Justice Goundar said the prosecution case against Yvette was “entirely based on circumstantial evidence”, and there was “no incriminating, direct or circumstantial evidence, against the first accused on all five charges”.
“The application for a no case to answer is allowed and a finding of not guilty is entered on all five charges against the first accused. She may now step down from the dock,” Justice Goundar ruled. “The court finds there is some direct and circumstantial evidence on all five charges against the second accused.”
Originally published as Yvette Nikolic arrives back at Melbourne Airport after being found not guilty
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