The lawyer for French Polynesia's disgraced former president, Gaston Flosse, has hit out at the investigative judge who has banned his client from entering the premises of the territorial assembly.
French Polynesia's veteran leader Gaston Flosse. Photo: AFP
Flosse was detained for questioning last week and then charged with holding stolen public goods after 70,000 US dollars worth of China of the presidential palace was found at his home.
The lawyer says banning Flosse from visiting the assembly is an intolerable interference in the local democratic life, saying every citizen has the right to go the house of the people.
He says he has lodged an appeal for the charge to be dropped, with Flosse insisting that he paid for the china with his own money.
Flosse has had an office within the assembly where he says he has worked for free as an advisor to the party he leads.
In September, Flosse lost office because of a corruption conviction, which has deprived him of his civic rights and bans him from elected office for three years.