The Director of Public Prosecutions, Christopher Pryde, has announced the appointment of two new Assistant Directors of Public Prosecutions (ADPP) in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).

The two appointed are Dato Shyamala Alagendra from Malaysia and Andrew Jack from New Zealand.

Ms Alagendra is an international lawyer with more than 20 years of experience as a criminal lawyer.

She was appointed as an international prosecutor by the United Nations in East Timor.

She was then appointed as a prosecution trial lawyer at the Special Court for Sierra Leone where she successfully prosecuted military and rebel leaders, as well as the former President of Liberia, Charles Taylor.

She has prosecuted and defended clients before the International Criminal Court (ICC) and other international tribunals and practised at her legal firm in Kuala Lumpur.

In April 2014 Ms Alagendra was awarded the title of Dato by the Sultan of Perak (both the former Lord and King of Malaysia) for services to international law.

This award is the equivalent to a knighthood in the UK.

Mr Jack comes with vast experience and knowledge. He has served 14 years in the legal section of the New Zealand Police with the past five years as the chief legal adviser.

He was Group Manager Legal and Advisory Services for the New Zealand Customs Service and also served as a chief censor for six years.

Mr Jack has been in private practice before deciding to take this new role in Fiji as an ADPP.

Ms Shyamala and Mr Jack join two other ADPPs, Mosese Korovou and Lee Burney, at the ODPP headquarters in Suva.

Source: ODPP