Serious concerns have been raised by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Fiji Police Force in relation to people giving false information which has resulted in charges being laid against innocent people.
DPP Christopher Pryde says in the past two months, the Office of the DPP has terminated court proceedings against eight people charged with rape when it was discovered that the complainants in each case had provided false information to the Police.
He adds the Police take sexual assault complaints seriously and when people make false complaints for some ulterior motive the integrity of the criminal justice system is adversely affected.
Pryde highlights not only resources are wasted but innocent people’s lives are disrupted and great potential harm can result not only for the falsely accused person but for victims of crime in having their complaints taken seriously.
He stresses that any person giving false or deliberately misleading information to the Police or attempts to interfere in a prosecution will be charged with an offence.
Pryde highlights that seven people are currently being prosecuted in the courts for a range of offences including giving false information to a public servant and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
When asked on how Police are dealing with cases where charges are being laid based on false information, Police Chief of Intelligence and Investigations, ACP Henry Brown says it has been noted that such cases of false reporting and giving false information are not only isolated to cases relating to sexual offences but to other crimes against persons and property.
ACP Brown says this is a concern because it uses a lot of resources which can be channelled to genuine cases.
