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One of the suspects accused of plotting to kill the Army Commander Voreqe Bainimarama did not shoot him although they were only 15 metres apart because he was not ordered to.
Former Counter Revolutionary Warfare soldier Barbados Mills today took the stand in the High Court in Suva before Justice Paul Madigan.
He along with Feoko Gadekibau, Sivaniolo Naulago, Metuisela Mua, Eparama Waqatairewa, Kaminielio Vosavere and Pauliasi Ramulo face murder charges.
Mills said on the morning of November 2, 2007 he was ordered to secure the Officer’s Mess.
Asked whether he knew if the Commander was present at the Officer’s Mess, he said he was not aware.
He said he could see that he was only 15 metres from the Commander but did not shoot him because it was not his orders.
“I was just given orders to secure the (Officer’s) Mess. When orders are given, we follow them.”
State prosecutor David Toganivalu suggested that he and Waqatairewa (one of the accused) were shooting at the Commander, to which he replied, no.
“We never did,” he said.
He agreed that when the firing was going on, the Commander’s bodyguards had to remove him from there and helped him escape down a slope.
Asked whether he knew that his orders were illegal, Mills said, “Orders are orders and they are meant to be followed”.
“The legality of orders are the responsibility of my superiors. There is a saying that goes, there are no bad soldiers, only bad leaders. The leaders are responsible,” Mills said.
The case continues.
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