Highly disturbing reports are reaching Grubsheet that the Chief Justice and head of the Judicial Services Commission, Salesi Temo, is telling associates that he intends to prevent the reinstated DPP Christopher Pryde‘s scheduled return to Gunu House on Monday at all costs.
These reports are from credible sources and cannot be ignored. And one thing is certain. Salesi Temo certainly has the motive to prevent Christopher Pryde’s return.
The CJ was humiliated by the decision last month by three High Court judges led by Justice Anare Tuilevuka to exonerate Christopher Pryde of the charges of misbehaviour laid against him that saw him suspended for the best part of two years.
Salesi Temo – in concert with the then Attorney General, Siromi Turaga – engineered the DPP’s suspension in April 2023. He then kept him waiting 21 months for his day in court. And for the last eight of those months, he unlawfully cut off Pryde’s salary to prevent him from being able to afford legal counsel to defend himself.
In the event, Christopher Pryde prevailed without even being at the Tribunal hearing. But in his absence, Salesi Temo launched an astonishing attack on the DPP, falsely accusing him of stealing from the Fijian people by paying himself unauthorised superannuation payments and shamelessly defaming him.
In the event, the Tribunal judges ruled that the superannuation payments were part of Pryde’s contract of employment and had been signed off on by two presidents. So why did Salesi Temo pretend otherwise knowing the documentary evidence? The inescapable conclusion is malice and a determination to nail Christopher Pryde at all costs.
The Tribunal verdict exonerating the DPP on December 23, 2024, pole-axed the then Acting Chief Justice and would have sent him into one of his familiar rages. The following day, Christmas Eve, the Prime Minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, threw him a lifeline by confirming him in the substantive position of CJ, cementing Temo’s hold on the job and making it much harder to dislodge him.
Salesi Temo now seems poised to not only defy the Tribunal ruling exonerating Christopher Pryde but defy the order by the President, Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu, that the DPP be reinstated, be paid all outstanding salary and allowances “immediately” and return to work at Gunu House.
Just before Christopher Pryde was scheduled to return to Fiji two weeks ago, the Chief Justice sent him a letter asking him to give cause as to why he should not be suspended again on the basis of recycled allegations of financial misconduct from the same file by the then Acting DPP, Nancy Tikoisuva. Pryde then informed the CJ that he would take two weeks leave to answer the allegations.
Grubsheet understands that in the event, the DPP took only a week to do so and Salesi Temo has had his response for almost a week. So why hasn’t the Chief Justice either informed Pryde that he has no case to answer and will not be suspended or proceed to suspend him for misbehaviour and set up another Tribunal to hear the allegations against him?
Here’s one theory doing the rounds in Suva. That Salesi Temo is waiting for Christopher Pryde to return to work on Monday and will immediately suspended him on arrival. At the same time, Barbara Malimali, the FICAC Commissioner who Temo handpicked, will act on Nancy Tikoisuva’s simultaneous complaint to her and charge the DPP with abuse of office. We are about to see whether this theory is rooted in fact. But if it proves to be true, it will be a grave miscarriage of justice.
But there’s another theory doing the rounds that is even more sinister. That Salesi Temo is working in concert with Barbara Malimali to prevent Christopher Pryde from resuming his duties as DPP. And why might that be? To prevent him from working in concert with the new Police Commissioner, Rusiate Tudravu, to independently assess cases against certain prominent people, including Barbara Malimali herself and the Deputy Prime Minister, Biman Prasad.
If this is true, then we have entered entirely different territory to the current standoff between Salesi Temo and the head of the Malimali Commission of Inquiry, Justice David Ashton-Lewis, who has requested that Barbara Malimali be stood down for sacking her chief investigator at FICAC, Kuliasi Saumi, after he gave evidence to the COI. The Chief Justice is so far refusing to respond to that request.
Could it be that he needs Barbara Malimali in place to deliver their killer blow against Christopher Pryde on Monday? That’s what some people are saying. And if it is true, the state is in an even more rotten condition than we thought.
The criminal justice system has been hijacked and due process junked. And we are currently in the throes of a full blown assault on the integrity of our institutions and of Fijian democracy itself.
The coward RFMF Commander should hang his lamusona ‘chiefly’ head in shame.
You are also right, but more importantly all these NGOs and NSOs are strangely quiet and silent all of a sudden.
They all have lost credibility in the last two years.
No person should trust these leaches again.
The man is a law unto himself. He is iTaukei and this is his country so he probably thinks that he can do what he wants and the vulagi can go to hell.
Let me restate that – he does think that he can do as he pleases in his own country. That is what happens when there is hate for “others”. I think if it were left up to him, there would be no crime if an iTaukei ate a vulagi. It was tradition after all. No laughing matter, because it is coming to that if the guy is not booted soon.
Ummm, but then, they have found themselves to be Israelites recently – God’s chosen people living in the Pacific. There is a great deal of similarities between the two peoples we are told. The Israelis are a murderous lot as we have seen lately.
@ Give him a boot
Everything said from the beginning are agreeable.
Except, respectfully-this part: Unless through some miracle the COI suspends Barbwire on Friday.
Not gonna happen and if by some miracle if does, the village idiot rogue CJ will “unsuspend” aunty titi. True. The village idiot THAT crazy.
And snake slr will shrug his limp shoulders, wink wink, nudge nudge and say ‘not in my portfolio.’
He is a vulagi to Viti Levu as he is from Lau.
Any person worth a pinch of Salt will understand that the ultimate aim is to ensure there isn’t a strong opposition and that Frank Bainimarama is pushed out of any comeback. To do that they need a compliant DPP, FICAC commissioner and of course the rogue CJ, who was given a permanent contract, with FB gone, under the D’hont system, using SLR as the star vote getter, PAP will pull in a majority of seats in the 2026 elections.
With all respect to the other parties, and I hope I’m wrong , the ability for a S in for person to pull in 80-100k votes independently is far fetched.
So I guess if it means no Pryde, rogue FICAC commissioner and rogue CJ to achieve that, then so be it.
Unless through some miracle the COI suspends Barbwire on Friday.
The objective is to arrest Pryde on arrival and charge him with something which has been falsified.
Once arrested, he will be advised he has breached his employment contract and Fijian laws which will allow the government to cancel his working Visa, then deport him back out again.
He will also be placed onto the prohibited entry list so he can’t enter Fiji again.
Wow. Sadly, that is not a too far fetched scenario. In fact, that’s very likely then exact plan.
One should not be surprised to see FICAC titi, entire ODPP, siromi, AG, the Snake, police with cuffs and all, the free media, and more of the circus to be part of the “greeting” tent.
Expect lolling Nancy with welcome garland for Pryde.
The craziest group of clowns ever assembled in goverment.
This is speculation based on rumours. Pryde shoud not be swayed by these so called “highly disturbing” rumours.
The people of Fiji are on his side and want him to return to work as DPP.
They are not rumours. They are reports of what Salesi Temo has told others. Which is quite different.
If he wants to set the record straight and pave the way for the DPP to return, let’s hear from him.
If Pryde does get arrested then the New Zealand government may not be pleased about that although they are trying to be big buddies with current corrupt government and are having a very hands off approach saying they can’t intervene. Unlike the previous non racist government that they were very hostile to.
You forget the useless NZ Foreign Affairs Minister (Winston Peters) created a song and dance when Pryde wrote to him seeking assistance.
Peters went so far as to say he would not assist Pryde.
All Peters has to do is catch a creaky old Air NZ plane, fly to Fiji and hug Rabuka – all will be forgiven.
Peters is the same as Rabuka – ethno nationalists and biased towards anyone who is not the same ethnic group as them.
Yes, Winston Peters may be a nationalist but perhaps a hopeless one. When Fiji was trying to stop Bainimarama’s explicit foray into usurping government, Fiji sought his help, and he abstained. I am sure that decision haunts him today as it was pivotal to introducing Fiji and its citizens to a torrent experience of abuse in all facets of their democracy and it after effects to this very day.He is all talk and never in the know, which makes him useless.
When I first read that Temo was taking his sweet time to suspend Malimali my immediate thought was that he is waiting for Christopher Pryde to arrive in the country. He would then suspend him for some reason and then Malimali would put a stop departure order on him. He would be well and truly screwed. It seems other smarter and more well informed people in Fiji have had similar thoughts.
Isa Fiji.
Other thoughts are turning to removing them, not the DPP. Isa Fiji, indeed.
Mr Pryde should seek an undertaking that they will leave him alone if he returns to Fiji, else he will eventually be imprisoned.
To be brutally honest, any ‘undertaking’ from that rabid bunch wouldn’t be worth the paper it was printed on.
They make up and change the rules as they go along and I’m sure that Mr Pryde has seen enough of their double dealing and back stabbing to realise this.
If they are out to get him, and it looks and sounds highly likely, I think his best option is to sit tight and await the outcome of the COI.
If she is not suspended pending the outcome of the investigation, she will be considered still in charge and she has already wielded her illegally and illgotten power with one sacking, so will feel empowered to carry out another, complete with all the bells and whistles she can muster from FICAC.
God help this country.
It is all planned that Temo will again suspend Pryde when he comes to Fiji. Temo, Turaga, President, Rabuka, Rabuku, Barbara, and other nationalists are all working in collusion. FICAC will charge Pryde when he comes to Fiji and it is better for him to resign and negotiate for his exit from NZ. Pryde is a honest and very fair individual but these guys will not listen. Unfortunately most people are supporting this corrupt and very unstable government.
And quick, make sure the media are focused on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and tell all about the 1987 Coup…we desperately need a smoke screen to take the focus away from the embarrassing Pryde and FICAC debacle.
GD
This man, Mr Justice Temo has become “untouchable” since his promotion and is enjoying unfettered powers and authority. Pobably greater than that of the Prime Minister or the President. Remember he was the one who was solely responsible for incarcerating the ex-PM, despite the ex-PM’s acquittal in a lower court. When making that decision on the acquittal of the ex-PM, Justice Temo was critical of that magistrate and used his own authority to punish the ex-PM and refused to recuse himself despite making some serious comments against the magistrate and the administration of justice. He was the judge, jury and the executioner in Bainimarama’s court case.
If he can get away with (imprisoning the ex-PM) then there is nothing stopping him from punishing Christoper Pryde. Meanwhile, sacking Justice Temo could bring down the Coalition government like the House of Cards because he is the king maker and untouchable and probably commands a lot of respect in the iTaukei community.
Every Fijian is suffering now because of the change some people advocated including grubsheet to remove FFP. If only FFP remained in power we would have seen real progress in economy , improving lives of people and not involved in this political charade before us undermining rule of law, Lynda Tabuya nude dramas, snake Rabuka trying to divert people into revealing the person behind 1987 coup.
How is all of this going to improve poor people’s lives who are struggling to meet cost of living and plunging deeper into poverty leading to increase in daily crimes perpetrated mostly by iTaukei who make upto 70% of those living in poverty despite being 90% of resource owners and head of each successive govts and head of state being only itaukei to date.
Yes, you speak the truth about my own role. I am now struggling to reconcile with myself.
Totally disagree with you Nick, for a number of reasons which are, sigh, too complex to break down this lovely evening as that means spending more time on social media which I don’t have.
In short though: I don’t regret, ever, voting for change in 2022 and thereby, ousting FFP! But I would never, ever vote for Rabuka – the other extreme end of the spectrum that only ‘unhealed nutcases’ who don’t learn from history.. would swing to.
No thanks, but here we are, sigh! Democracy is after all, a work-in-progress, it requires incremental changes that are “evolutionary” (and not revolutionary through coup d’etats) – a truism that the likes of former Justice Gates and his cohort understood too late. Isa.
Perhaps Fiji needed to experience this long, very difficult phase to know for certain that the old wrinkly limp leopard simply cannot change his spots and needs to be put in the dustbin of history once and for all come 2026. Just start there please.