The president of New Caledonia's Northern Province Paul Neaoutyine will appeal his eight-month suspended prison sentence.
President of New Caledonia's Northern Province Paul Neaoutyine Photo: RNZ Walter Zweifel
Last week, the criminal court in Noumea found him guilty of misspending public funds and fined him $US5,000 over the allocation to various organisations, including one in charge of transporting disabled children.
He was found to have given the transport contract without going through a tender process.
At the trial, Mr Neaoutyine had argued that such transport was the responsibility of the territorial government, which he said didn't do its job.
His lawyer told local media that the justice system failed to understand the shortcomings in the administrative process.
Mr Neaoutyine's party described the court ruling as a political cabal to discredit him, adding that the court knew that the funding decision was approved by the provincial assembly.