DPP OUT OF CONTEXT: AKBAR
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has used incorrect and out-of-context information and has made a factually inaccurate statement about my Ministry, says Minister for Women, Children, and Poverty Alleviation Rosy Akbar.
In a statement released by the minister yesterday, she stated that the ministry had never nor did it plan to interfere in the Judiciary’s sentencing process.
Ms Akbar said the DPP could have called the ministry for clarification instead of making factually incorrect statements.
She urged the DPP to regularly exercise their best judgement in verifying information.
“At the outset, the DPP misquoted the Honourable Minister, who is well aware of the fact that this is a judicial process, and the word ‘lobby’ in the Fiji Times article referred to a closed consultation process and wasn’t referring to any
current or specific case,” she said.
The statement added that when the minister said she would lobby for harsher penalties against perpetrators of rape and sexual violence, she was speaking as a woman and mother, who has been fighting for these causes for almost her entire life.
“The DPP, in his statement, also mentioned that the Honourable Minister met with the child who had witnessed the Volivoli homicide, and that this could potentially jeopardise any future prosecution. This is also incorrect.
“The victim’s mother had passed away and the Minister, along with Ministry officials, were attending her funeral.
“The Department of Social Welfare is mandated to assess the care and protection of children who have lost their parents. In carrying out their duties, Ministry officials discussed the guardianship of the two sisters, and in no way interfered with the case but carried out the role of the Ministry.
“No witness was interfered with in any way.”