Radio New Zealand International reports the request was made by the French justice minister, Michele Alliot-Marie, as part of a comprehensive French Polynesian judicial probe into the so-called OPT affair which has already seen half a dozen people being put into the Tahiti jail.
Among them is a top French advertising executive, Hubert Haddad, who has been in detention for two months, for allegedly paying nearly US$2 million in kickbacks to Flosse for French Polynesian public sector contracts.
Flosse has said he would go to jail if those held in connection with this case, including his long-term personal secretary, are freed.
He has just spent five days in Tahiti where he appeared in the court of appeal over a case of alleged misuse of public funds in 2004, with a verdict due in September
Meanwhile, French Polynesia said its sports minister will represent the country at an upcoming “France-Oceania” summit on 31 July in New Caledonia’s capital Noumea, according to Radio Australia.
Sports Minister Tauhiti Nena will represent President Oscar Temaru, who’s in France where he’s believed to have undergone an operation.
Nena has announced plans for a three day stopover in New Zealand for talks with international rugby officials on his way back from Noumea.
New Caledonia will be represented by local government president Philippe Gomes, while the third French Pacific territory, Wallis and Futuna, has not yet announced who it’s sending to the France-Oceania summit.
Temaru is expected to be back in Tahiti this week.
