RAROTONGA (Pacnews) — Police in the Cook Islands are investigating whether a possible arson attack on the Office of the Prime Minister on Saturday could be linked to the leakage of Cabinet papers and a man who may have been attempting to bug the office last year, Cook Islands News reports.
The prime minister’s Chief Executive Officer Piho Rua said the man in question, who has a history of violent crime and spent time in a high security prison in New Zealand, last year sought advice from him on bugging the Office of the Prime Minister and also mentioned blowing it up.
“This person approached me while I was out of government and he wanted me to give him some advice on what he should do if he wanted to bug the prime minister’s office,” Rua, a former police officer, said.
“I can substantiate that story because there was another ex-senior police officer with me at the time this individual approached me. He was seeking information on how to destroy the heart of government.”
Rua said the fact that the fire coincided with an investigation into Cabinet leaks made him suspicious.
“All the Cabinet papers are kept here, all the government documentation,” he said. “There are documents everywhere. It might be that someone was trying to destroy the building so that their activities wouldn’t be discovered.”
Television coverage of the fire on Saturday evening showed shredded documents strewn over the floor of the kitchen and Rua said this has added to his fears that the fire may have been politically motivated.
