Acting Deputy Commissioner Francis Pulewai (left), Barbara Malimali

The appointment of Barbara Malimali as the Commissioner of Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) has been tarnished by the actions of Acting Deputy Commissioner Francis Puleiwai.

These are the sentiments of Attorney General, Graham Leung, who has spoken to the media about the recent detention of Malimali, who was appointed as the new commissioner and today being officially her first day in the office.

However, earlier today Malimali was taken in for questioning by FICAC in a case of alleged abuse of office complaint.

Leung says as he understands, Puleiwai appears to have sanctioned the arrest and executed the powers of arrest against Malimali.

“I was taken by surprise, as anyone else would be because the situation was unprecedented.  You will understand that the new boss reports for work on a Thursday morning and her own staff under their legislation seeking to arrest her that obviously was a deeply concerning situation. Now the legality of that purported arrest of Ms Malimali by her own staff, the legality of that arrest is highly questionable.”

Attorney General, Graham Leung

Leung is urging Puleiwai to respect the appointment of Malimali by the President, and if the former has issues with the appointment, then she has the right of access to the Courts.

There is more development in this as the Electoral Commission has also lodged a complaint to the Judicial Services Commission after a search warrant was executed against the Electoral Commission.

“The FICAG sought information from the electoral commission in relation to Ms Malimali. Given the events that I have described and referred to this morning regarding the purported arrest of Ms Barbara Malimali, it raises serious questions about the motive behind Ms Malimali’s arrest. She comes to work on a Thursday morning to take up her duties and she’s arrested by her own staff.”

Leung says the powers vested in FICAC are broad and must be exercised carefully and deliberately and not reactively.

The AG says it is difficult to believe that this morning’s action of FICAC against its new commissioner is coincidental but adds if they are not then there are questions that Pulewai needs to answer.

He goes on to express his concern about the worrying trend in the country of maligning people based on rumours and innuendo.

Leung says that all members of the Electoral Commission have thrown their support towards Malimali after having written to the JSC and the complaint has no basis and only arose out of a misunderstanding.