Former Attorney-General Graham Leung was dismissed by Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka through a Viber message while he was on a work trip in Hong Kong, details revealed in a High Court judgment show.
The circumstances surrounding Leung’s termination on May 30, 2025, are outlined in Justice Dane Tuiqereqere’s ruling on judicial review challenges against findings of the Commission of Inquiry into the appointment of former FICAC Commissioner Barbara Malimali.
According to the judgment, Leung stated in a supplementary affidavit that he had messaged the Prime Minister several times during May 2025 regarding the anticipated COI report but received no response.
On May 30, Leung was in Hong Kong for work when he was woken in the early hours by a telephone call from the Cabinet Secretary informing him that he needed to speak urgently with the Prime Minister.
Leung then immediately sent Rabuka a message on Viber asking whether the Prime Minister wanted to speak with him.
According to the judgment, Rabuka responded by Viber “a minute later”.
“I am dismissing you as AG effective immediately under the provisions of the Constitution that empower me to,” the Prime Minister’s message stated.
“You may complete your trip there as there is nothing to sign on behalf of Fiji [in Hong Kong].”
The judgment states the Viber message was followed by a letter from the Prime Minister dated May 30, 2025.
In the letter, Leung was advised that “in light of the recommendations” of the COI report into Malimali’s appointment, the Prime Minister had decided to exercise his power to dismiss him as a minister with immediate effect.
Justice Tuiqereqere’s judgment elsewhere found that Leung had not been given notice of the adverse findings against him before his termination.
The court found that Leung would have been “blindsided” by the Commissioner’s adverse findings and was entitled, as a matter of natural justice and procedural fairness, to receive notice of the draft adverse findings and an opportunity to respond.
The High Court has since quashed the adverse findings and recommendations arising from the COI and declared the report null and void in its entirety.
