French Polynesia's opposition pro-independence party has held a demonstration to coincide with a visit by the French justice minister Nicole Belloubet.
French Justice Minister Nicole Belloubet Photo: AFP or licensors
French Polynesia's opposition pro-independence party has held a demonstration to coincide with a visit by the French justice minister Nicole Belloubet.
The minister has been touring correctional facilities on several islands, including Tahiti.
Supporters of the Tavini Huiraatira party displayed a banner near the Tahiti jail with the French president Emmanuel Macron's quote that colonisation was a crime against humanity.
Party leader Oscar Temaru said he simply wanted the minister to read the banner.
Neighbouring Pacific Island countries have local justice ministers and not an Englishman or an American, he said.
Last year, Mr Temaru launched a complaint with the International Criminal Court accusing France of committing a crime against humanity with its nuclear weapons tests in the Pacific.
A Tavini assembly member Richard Tuheiava said it was likely more physical victims were now thinking of taking their own cases to the court in The Hague.