Commission of Inquiry report names 9
Officials implicated reportedly lied under oath, obstructed and perverted the cause of justice in the appointment of former FICAC Commissioner, Barbara Malimali.
Wednesday 11 June 2025 | 02:00
Five senior lawyers, three senior members of the judiciary and a member of Cabinet are the nine implicated in the Commission of lnquiry (COI) report.
Fiji Sun is withholding the names of the individuals to prevent jeopardising police investigations into allegations raised in the COI report.
The inquiry concluded that these senior officials lied under oath, obstructed and perverted the cause of justice in the appointment of the former Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) Commissioner, Barbara Malimali.
Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu confirmed to the Fiji Sun yesterday that they needed time to analyse the report.
Fiji Sun understands that the COI did not recommend the set-up of a tribunal to investigate the senior members of the judiciary because the Commission did not want to be accused of interfering with the independence of the Judicial Services Commission (JSC).
A tribunal would have to be set up by the JSC. However, the unfolding of events surrounding the inquiry has raised serious questions about the integrity and independence of the judiciary and upholding of the rule of law.
Attempts to get a comment from the Chief Justice and chairperson of the JSC through text messages, phone calls, email and a visit to his office were unsuccessful.
Fiji Sun was informed yesterday that the Chief Registrar, Tomasi Bainivalu, was away overseas. Questions sent to Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka remain unanswered. Meanwhile, President of the Fiji Law Society Wylie Clarke released a statement yesterday calling for the resignation of Justice David Ashton-Lewis as the Supreme Court Judge of Fiji.
This follows comments made by Justice Ashton-Lewis in an interview with an Australian radio station on May 29, 2025, revealing some of the conclusions of the inquiry.
“The Fiji Law Society calls on Justice Ashton-Lewis himself to either resign from the Supreme Court of Fiji or that he faces disciplinary proceedings under section 112 of the Constitution,” the statement.
Justice Ashton-Lewis has yet to respond to questions sent by this masthead.
Mr Rabuka had confirmed to this masthead that Justice Ashton-Lewis could speak about the inquiry because his work with the proceedings was complete.
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