French Polynesia's former president Gaston Flosse has tested positive for Covid-19, prompting a deferral of today's appeal court hearing.
Veteran French Polynesian politician, Gaston Flosse. Photo: RNZ Pacific
Flosse and the current president Edouard Fritch, who is also Covid-19 positive, appealed last year's joint conviction for abusing public funds.
Fritch had been fined $US50,000 while Flosse had been given a suspended two-year jail sentence and been banned from holding public office.
The two had been convicted for their actions as current and former mayors of the town of Pirae from the late 1980s onward.
They had arranged for the town administration to pay for the water supply to the upmarket Erima neighbourhood, where Flosse lived.
The President of French Polynesia, Edouard Fritch Photo: AFP
The appeal court case is now expected to be heard on 12 November.
Flosse, who is 89, has not held office since 2014 when he was forced to quit the presidency because of a corruption conviction.