John and Yvette Nikolics’ lawyers seek acquittal
Lawyers for accused Australian drug smugglers Yvette and John Nikolic have made a new move to have their clients acquitted in Fiji.
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Lawyers for accused Australian drug smugglers Yvette and John Nikolic have applied to the Suva High Court to have their clients acquitted without presenting a defence.
Prosecutors wrapped up their case today, ahead of the Nikolics’ defence team submitting ‘no case to answer’ applications to Justice Daniel Goundar on behalf of their clients.
Justice Goundar adjourned court proceedings in the afternoon to consider the applications and on Friday is expected to rule on whether to accept the applications or order the trial to proceed, in which case it is possible defence witnesses will be called.
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Earlier in the day, forensic scientist with the Fiji Police Miliana Werebau told the court the 13 cocaine bars found on the Nikolics’ yacht Shenanigans on June 22 last year had tested positive for cocaine.
Most of the bars were more than 90 per cent pure cocaine, Ms Werebau said.
The Nikolics, who have pleaded not guilty to charges of drug importation, drug possession and weapons offences, have been supported in court for much of the trial by John’s brother, jockey Danny Nikolic, and Danny’s partner Tania Hyett.
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John and Yvette Nikolic, who have two children, have been in Fiji prisons for more than seven months after the discovery of drugs, money and weapons on their yacht.
The court has previously heard a “distraught” John Nikolic told a customs officer during the raid on Shenanigans he owed “some dangerous people a lot of money that he couldn’t possibly pay back and this was his only way out”, and that “a Colombian” had put something in a bag.
The former racehorse trainer allegedly took sole responsibility for the bars of cocaine found on the yacht at the time of the raid and told authorities he wanted to be the one to tell his wife “what happened … what had transpired, of what he’d done”, as she knew nothing about the drugs.
The court has also heard he allegedly volunteered to customs officers where they would find a further three bars of cocaine in the lazarette locker, after they had uncovered 10 cocaine bars in a blue bag.
The court has been told it was not long after that — and after being escorted to a toilet on the yacht by senior customs officer Fenton Williams, where it is alleged he took a deliberate drug overdose — that Mr Nikolic collapsed next to Yvette, making choking sounds and becoming unresponsive.
More drugs, weapons and US$15,000 in $100 notes were found in a search after Mr Nikolic had been taken to hospital.
In his opening address, lead prosecutor Lee Burney said the prosecution intended to show that while the Nikolics had been presenting to the outside world a charade that they were “living the dream, embarking on an adventure of a lifetime” by sailing from Florida to Colombia, through Panama and across the Pacific, they were, in reality “secretly involved in the wicked, international drugs trade”.
‘No case to answer’ is a term used in criminal law where a defendant seeks acquittal without having to present a defence.
If the judge does not accept the submission, the case continues and the defence must present their case.
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