On Tuesday last week, the French Senate, which had already received two requests to have Flosse’s immunity lifted, finally gave its approval to strip the former president of his protection as an MP.
The request came from investigating Judges Philippe Stelmach and Jean-François Redonnet, who, over the past six months, have intensified their judicial investigation into a number of cases, including some involving corruption.
In the past months, as part of the judicial investigation, 78-year-old Flosse has been summoned and heard several times before Stelmach and Redonnet.
After a three-hour interview behind closed doors with judge Stelmach, this week, Flosse emerged from the court house in the capital Pape’ete, only to be escorted into a police vehicle en route to the small prison of Nuutania.
The roads leading to the jail house had been closed to traffic for the occasion, French Overseas Network RFO’s Télé-Polynésie reported.
Stelmach later confirmed that Flosse was to be placed under “temporary detention” for charges of passive corruption, embezzlement of public funds and destruction of evidence.
Outside the court house, throughout the day, close to five hundred militants and sympathizers had camped, all dressed in white, in a sign of mourning, to hold what they termed an “ecumenical service” and provide support for the embattled leader.
Among those were Edouard Fritch, currently president-delegate of the Tahoeraa Huiraatira and also Flosse’s son-in-law.
“This is to show (him) we are grateful for all that he did. What you have here is a lot of people praying during the hard times he is facing,” Fritch said.
