The revelation by Acting Attorney-General Siromi Turaga that a call from the Maximum Prison allegedly set in motion the theft earlier this year involving drugs, cash and a judiciary officer is cause for concern.
This is serious and, if true, every effort must be made to get to the bottom of this issue.
In fact, the theft or removal of cocaine from the exhibit room in Suva cannot be swept under the carpet or allowed to linger. Every effort must be made to establish what happened, and appropriate action must be taken to ensure everyone connected to it is held accountable, as soon as possible.
This should be a sackable offence. We must not tolerate this, nor can we allow it to happen again.
It is embarrassing and a major concern.
The police, we learn, had tested the packages before moving them to the High Court vault.
That now places pressure on those tasked with securing that vault to be upfront about what happened.
Mr Turaga revealed the connection to the Maximum Prison as police announced six members of the judiciary as persons of interest in the disappearance of almost 50kg of cocaine from the High Court in Suva.
We realise the emphasis now being placed on the investigation is already attracting considerable interest.
Questions are being asked about how the drugs disappeared from what was supposed to be a secure vault. We learn there were major issues with security on site. That is now beside the point. The challenge here and now is to establish how this was allowed to happen, why someone did not pick it up much earlier, and what is being done to tighten security.
We note Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has supported calls for an independent audit of all exhibits under judicial custody.
This follows Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu’s statement that the status of exhibits in courtrooms remains unknown unless they are tested, with responsibility for exhibit security and requests for testing resting with the Judiciary.
In the face of this, all judicial officials responsible for handling exhibits, including Chief Registrar Tomasi Bainivalu, will be questioned over the disappearance of cocaine from the High Court exhibit room.
Mr Rabuka said this would include those responsible for the block, keys and closed-circuit television systems.
Investigations, he said, should not be limited to judges but should cover all personnel working within the Judiciary, including clerks, storemen and exhibit keepers. He stressed that no institution is perfect and that anyone within an institution acting improperly must be identified and dealt with.
And we say, yes, all rogue elements must be weeded out and appropriately dealt with.
As Mr Rabuka pointed out, the questions are straightforward: Who was responsible for the block where the exhibits were kept? Who had responsibility for the key? Who was responsible for ensuring the CCTV systems were operational?
Now, call it what we want, but there must be a thorough hunt for everyone connected to this disappearance. People lose their jobs over such incidents. Enough of the embarrassment. Public institutions entrusted with evidence must be able to account for it. Anything less undermines confidence in the very system that is supposed to uphold justice!
