Pacific

Tahiti prosecutor alarmed at Flosse defence

14:20 pm on 13 February 2017

The public prosecutor's office in French Polynesia has taken issue with comments made against the judiciary which it says could amount to attempts of misinformation or pressure.

Gaston Flosse Photo: AFP

The statement was issued after last week's trial of a former president Gaston Flosse over the 2014 theft of $US70,000 worth of chinaware.

His defence lawyers, who included his son-in-law, have claimed that their client is being hounded amid a fixation to sever his links with his voters.

The prosecutor took Flosse to the appeal court because he wasn't given a custodial sentence in the criminal court last year, also asking the court to make him ineligible for public office for five years.

The prosecutor says such a sentence is warranted to stop degrading democracy and to show corruption cannot to be tolerated with impunity.

A ruling is expected on 23 March.

Flosse, who lost the presidency because of a corruption conviction in September 2014, is already banned from holding public office until 2019 although he challenged the decision, claiming he is eligible to stand again next year.