COI requests second deadline extension

Barbara Malimali, Commissioner of the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption

The commission of inquiry into the appointment of Barbara Malimali, commissioner of the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption, will seek a second extension of its deadline.

This as the investigation concluded on its eleventh day and the COI is about to end its second week.

The investigation was granted a first extension which will end on January 31.

Senior Counsel Assisting the Commissioner, Janet Mason

Senior counsel assisting the commissioner, Janet Mason, says the likely extension is due to the 27 witnesses remaining before the commission.

Mason said Attorney General Graham Leung took the stand yesterday with the other FICAC investigators.

“It was good to have a witness that didn’t take days and days, and then we came back to the second of five witnesses. Tomorrow we will begin with the Speaker of the House. He is now called in his capacity as President of the Court of Appeal and member of the JSC.

Mason adds that so far they have been able to interview about 10 witnesses.

Today, the Speaker of the House will appear before the COI in Veiuto, Suva.

Mason adds that they are in the process of requesting an extension to the January 31 deadline they proposed last week.