The Polynesian independence leader Oscar Temaru was acquitted Wednesday, May 24 at the Court of Appeal of Papeete, in a case of illegal taking of interests.
Mayor of Faa'a since 1883, he was suspected of having had his mayor finance a radio station that would have ensured his propaganda and that of his party, and had denounced a "political trial". "I am not surprised by the decision taken today, because it is the truth and it must be done: we want Justice with a capital J for our country," said Temaru, 78, emotionally, as he left the court.
The appeal comes after nine years of proceedings and five referrals. The prosecutor general had requested a six-month suspended prison sentence and a fine of 42,000 euros against Oscar Temaru. It was not followed by the Court of Appeal, which also acquitted the leaders of the communal radio station, Te reo o Tefana.
"What he was accused of, he never did, what today is established," said his lawyer, David Koubbi. "Oscar Temaru has never been convicted other than in a rigged case," he said at a press conference at the end of the trial. According to his party and his lawyers, Oscar Temaru was being prosecuted for leading the independence fight and because he had filed a complaint against the France for crimes against humanity, because of the 193 nuclear launches carried out in French Polynesia.
Anti-nuclear and independence struggle
Faa'a's communal radio station, Te Reo o Tefana, regularly reported on the anti-nuclear and independence struggle, but no recordings were produced to demonstrate that it was a propaganda radio. Oscar Temaru, honorary president of the radio, was accused of having provided him with municipal employees, equipment and premises. At first instance, in 2019, he was sentenced to six months in prison suspended and a fine of 42,000 euros.
The list led by Oscar Temaru won the territorial elections on 30 April and his son-in-law, Moetai Brotherson, was elected president of French Polynesia on 12 May.