The Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) is responsible for managing the lifting and reasoning of a Stop Order issued for former deputy FICAC Commissioner Francis Puleiwai, not the Ministry of Immigration. Minister for Immigration Pio Tikoduadau clarified this yesterday in response to inquiries about Puleiwai’s situation.
Tikoduadau explained that his office does not handle updates or determinations related to such orders. “No, it does not come to me,” he stated. He added that specific legal protocols allow the proper agency to impose Stop Orders at the border.
Puleiwai departed Fiji for Australia on September 7, following her resignation on September 5. Previously, she had expressed concerns to the media about the rule of law within FICAC, alleging ministerial charges and interferences by senior officials within the judiciary.
A Stop Order was issued shortly after Puleiwai resigned, but she had already left the country by that time. Tikoduadau emphasized that the authority to lift a Stop Order lies with the agency that imposed it and that he has no power in this matter. “Even if that be lifted, it depends on the authority that put it there in the first place,” he said, noting that courts and other institutions may also play a role in lifting such orders.