Fiji's former prime minister Frank Bainimarama won't spend any time in jail, despite being found guilty of perverting the course of justice while he was in office. 

He was discharged by the Magistrates Court on Thursday, after he was found guilty by a higher court earlier this month.  

The court found Bainimarama told Fijian police to halt investigations into alleged financial mismanagement at the University of the South Pacific in 2019.

The university filed complaints to state criminal investigators, alleging mismanagement and abuse of funds had occurred over 10 years.

The High Court overturned an earlier not guilty verdict delivered last year by magistrate Seini Puamau in the Magistrates Court.

The case was then sent back to the Magistrates Court for sentencing, where that same magistrate has now granted him an absolute discharge.

Citing the 69-year-old's poor health and heart condition, Ms Puamau also added that Mr Bainimarama's conviction would not be registered. 

He was facing a maximum sentence of five years in jail.

The Acting Director of Public Prosecutions John Rabuku described the sentence as "manifestly lenient" and filed an appeal. 

"The sentence delivered by Magistrate Puamau is unsatisfactory, is wrong both in fact and in law," he said.

Mr Bainimarama did not comment on the verdict but wished his supporters outside court a "Happy Easter". 

A former military chief, Mr Bainimarama came to power in a 2006 coup and later won democratic elections in 2014 and 2018.

He led the Pacific island nation for 16 years until narrowly losing an election in December 2022 to a coalition of parties led by Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka.

Reuters/ABC