48 officers charged shows we’ve nothing to hide: Qiliho

Data released by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions shows 48 Police officers were among the 572 people formally charged for cases called in the High Court last year. Police Commissioner BrigadierGeneral Sitiveni Qiliho says the report showed the force had nothing to hide.

“That is a positive for me because it shows how transparent we are – and that Police officers, when it comes to breaking the law, are treated as equal as anybody,” Brigadier-General Qiliho said.

“I’ve been talking about the removal of dirty cops from the institution and that’s part of it – taking them through the relevant processes.”

The formal charges for serious crimes in the report did not include sexual violence offences. They were dated between January 1 and December 31, 2017.

Brigadier-General Qiliho said the force had forwarded cases to the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption last year as they continued a crackdown on “dirty cops.”

He said all 48 cases in the ODPP report was investigated by police before being referred to FICAC. Out of the 572 charged, 493 people were charged with separate counts of serious offences, according to the report; 29 of those charged fell under the age of 18.

According to the report, the offences for each month were: January (7), February (43), March (43), April (15), May (88), June (38), July (69), August (61), September (16), October (28), November (59), December (26).

There were 350 victims of the 493 separate serious offences. Of the 350, there were 26 offences where the accused and victim were related to one another.

I’ve been talking about the removal of dirty cops from the institution and that’s part of it – taking them through the relevant processes

Sitiveni Qiliho Police Commissioner BrigadierGeneral