Fiji government suspends public prosecutor for alleged misbehaviour

By Kirsty Needham

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Fiji’s president suspended the Pacific island nation’s public prosecutor on Thursday and said a tribunal would be appointed to investigate him for alleged misbehaviour.

The move came on the same day that prosecutor Christopher Pryde’s office announced that police had asked it to consider suspected charges against the prime minister, former prime minister, former police chief and former attorney general.

Reuters could not reach Pryde, who has held the role of Director of Public Prosecutions for 11 years, for comment, and his office did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday evening.

A government statement said Pryde was suspended on Thursday, with President Ratu Wiliame Katonivere writing to inform him “a Tribunal will be appointed to investigate allegations of misbehavior”.

The statement did not give further details of the allegations, but said Pryde was required to hand over his mobile phone and laptop this afternoon.

Fiji’s former long-serving prime minister Frank Bainimarama pleaded not guilty in a Suva court last month on charges of abuse of office. Pryde approved the charges against Bainimarama and the suspended police commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho, who will both face trial.

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

A list of police complaints being investigated against “high profile individuals” was published by the prosecutor’s office on Thursday.

The list showed police had sought legal advice on suspected charges against Rabuka, former attorney general Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, as well as additional suspected charges against Bainimarama and Qiliho. The statement said no decision had been made by the prosecutor’s office in these cases.

Fiji has a history of military coups, including two staged by Rabuka and one by Bainimarama, and its military commander in January warned Rabuka’s new coalition government against making “sweeping changes”.

(Reporting by Kirsty Needham, Editing by William Maclean)