A section of the alleged report of the Barbara Malimali Commission of Inquiry (CoI) has identified 15 possible offences involving the former Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) commissioner.
According to Chapter 7 of the alleged CoI Report, three of the potential offences relate to alleged abuse of office.
These reportedly include Ms Malimali’s endorsement of an unlawful resolution for handling election complaints while serving as a member of the Electoral Commission of Fiji (ECF), the issuance of a Stop Departure Order (SDO) against former FICAC commissioner Francis Puleiwai in September 2024, and alleged interference in a case involving Finance Minister Professor Biman Prasad.
The chapter also outlines seven possible offences linked to PC (Practising Certificate) applications and statutory declarations.
“The CoI found that in all seven of her Fiji PC applications and statutory declarations since 2018, Ms Malimali had been dishonest.
“The evidence is clear. Ms Malimali knew she had been refused her application to practise in Tuvalu, yet she disclosed it only once in her 2018/2019 PC application, but did not accurately explain why.
“In all of the subsequent applications, Ms Malimali did not tell the truth,” the report states.
It also implicates her in two possible counts of perjury, one count of forgery, one offence related to electoral information, one count of witness tampering, one count of false representation, and one count of perverting the course of justice.
However, the document says that evidence obtained under the Commission of Inquiry Act is not admissible in court and must be independently investigated by police.
“Police will need to undertake their own independent investigations in relation to any of the possible offences arising out of the events which the CoI inquired into. No evidence taken under this Act shall be admissible against any person in any civil or criminal proceeding whatsoever, except in the case of a person charged under section 13 with false interpretation, or with giving false evidence before the Commissioners.
“The prosecuting body will not be able to admit the evidence taken at the CoI hearing, with the exception of evidence related to any perjury charges,” the document adds.
