KOROR (Palau Horizon) – Beleaguered Special Prosecutor Michael Copeland resigned from his post yesterday.
President Johnson Toribiong accepted the resignation of Copeland who will be serving the position until the end of the month.
Toribiong did not immediately provide reporters a copy of the resignation letter but hinted that one of Copeland’s reasons for quitting his post is the feud with the Office of the Attorney General.
The president said to keep the mutual respect between the Office of the Special Prosecutor and the OAG, he decided to accept the resignation of Copeland.
“I want to put out the angry feud between the OAG and Copeland,” Toribiong said.
He said the feud between the two offices are “undermining the confidence of the people.”
He however said he is not putting any blame to any of the offices.
“We have other pressing problems to worry about the feud between OAG and the SP,” Toribiong said.
The president has not named any replacement and instead considering the passage of the proposed measure which will abolish the Special Prosecutor’s Office. The measure introduced by Sen. Hokkons Baules proposes that a special counsel handles the SP work on a case-by-case basis.
Earlier the Senate and the House of Delegates have asked Copeland to respond to theallegations of incompetence hurled against him.
Copeland sent his written response to the Senate and House Committees on Judiciary and Governmental Affairs queries regarding the allegations against him rangingfromoversteppingauthority, professional ethics and competence.
The lawmakers have reviewed the response and were supposed to come out with their assessment on the matter.
Copeland was not available for comments.
