[ad_1]
photo: RNZ/Samuel Rillstone
A former Fijian government adviser and critic has claimed Foreign Minister Winston Peters has “left Fiji’s suspended New Zealand DPP” “out to dry” after the latter wrote to him seeking help.
On July 11, Alleged misconduct April 2023 Write to Peters seeking New Zealand government intervention Previously, his salary was “unilaterally” stopped by the Fijian government midway through his seven-year employment contract.
“The sudden and last-minute suspension of my salary while I am in the process of engaging legal counsel in Fiji to defend myself against the allegations made by the Fijian Government is a denial of natural justice and leaves me with no choice but to seek your assistance,” Pride said in a five-page letter to the minister.
A spokesperson for Peters’ office told New Zealand’s Pacific Radio on Monday: “This is a matter between Mr Pride and the Fijian Government. The Minister is not at liberty to comment on it.”
However, Peters told the Fiji Sun in an exclusive interview that he was “not happy with the way New Zealanders were asking him for help”, according to the newspaper.
“He (Pride) wrote to everybody and sent me a copy,” he said in a front-page story titled Winston slams Pride’s email appeal.
“He sent me a copy? He wrote me a letter and sent it to someone else at the same time! What would you think if someone wrote you a letter asking for help and then sent it to someone else at the same time? What would you think?” the newspaper reported.
The deputy prime minister’s comments, reported by the Fiji Times, were described as “highhanded and unprincipled” by former Fiji government communications adviser and Grubsheet blogger Graham Davis.
“Winston Peters obviously put Christopher Pride in a tough spot,” Davis said.
“The dismissive attitude he has taken towards suspended DPP Pryde, who is unable to defend himself against false allegations of misconduct because his salary has been suspended, is… high-handed and unprincipled.
“This sends an ominous signal to every New Zealander working in the Pacific, or considering doing so: if they run afoul of the host government, Winston Peters will cut them off. They are on their own.”
Fiji Attorney General Christopher Pride
photo: supply
Fijian Prime Minister Sitiweni Rabuka told local media that Pride was entitled to his full salary until he was removed from office.
The New Zealand lawyer was suspended 15 months ago for allegedly speaking “alone for approximately 30 to 45 minutes” with former Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum at a public event hosted by the Japanese Embassy in the capital Suva.
Last April, Rabuka said senior officials needed to “be clear about who is watching what we are doing”.
“If the DPP (Pryde) is seen as associating with a high-profile individual who is under investigation, that is not the right thing for the DPP.”
Pride, who has been top prosecutor since 2011, warned that other New Zealand citizens serving in Fiji’s criminal justice system “may be adversely affected if the Fijian government is allowed to ignore due process and the rule of law”.
“The New Zealand Government provides substantial assistance to Fiji to support the rule of law which is being undermined,” he said in his letter to Peters.
Fiji Law Society and New Zealand Law Society (NZLS) Expressing Concern about this issue.
NZLS president Frazer Barton encouraged people to “respect and abide by the rule of law”.
[ad_2]
Source link
