Police Commissioner Jahir Khan says that it is "absolutely wrong," for Opposition Leader Fred Fono to claim that his arrest, along with two others, was a directive from the Prime Minister.
One of the persons charged with Mr Fono, local businessman Matthew Wale, maintains that the arrest was timed with the motion of no confidence. The motion of no confidence was to have been moved in the same week "making the arrest a mere political ploy".However Mr Khan continues to say that during his weekly meetings with the PM, he only gave him "updates on the process of the investigation". Mr Khan stated on the SIBC that at no stage was he pressured to make the arrests. Mr Khan reiterated that claims that the PM directed him to make the arrest were wrong.
Mr Khan explained that as a matter of procedure the file was first submitted to the Director of Public Prosecution for his sanction and his opinion on the recommended charges. The file was sent again to the DPP for further clarification and the formulation of the charges.
Mr Khan says that charges that did not require DPP sanctioning were carried out, hence the arrest. "The charges that required DPP sanction were left aside for the DPP to consider later," he said.
Mr Khan says that the matter has never been politically motivated as they only enforced the law.