French Polynesia Court Declines to Rule in Temaru Case
The court in French Polynesia has declined to make a ruling in the case brought by the pro-independence leader Oscar Temaru against the prosecutor Herve Leroy.
The president of the court said a decision first needed to be made on whether to move the case to France or New Caledonia in order to guarantee impartiality.
A decision will be announced in two days.
Mr Temaru sought a preliminary court ruling last week after Mr Leroy explained why he ordered the seizure of Mr Temaru’s savings earlier this month, suggesting in his statement that Mr Temaru was convicted of a crime.
Given that the case against Mr Temaru was still before the court, his lawyer accused the prosecutor of violating the principle of presumed innocence.