World | Australia
Coup plot troubles Australian state police
Australia's state police faced crisis on Friday after charges of corruption at top levels and a plot to replace the country's only female commissioner with a "puppet".
- Agencies
- Published: 08:33 February 8, 2008
Canberra: Australia's state police faced crisis on Friday after charges of corruption at top levels and a plot to replace the country's only female commissioner with a "puppet".
A report by the Office of Police Integrity watchdog told of secret moves to oust Commissioner Christine Nixon and replace her with three senior Victoria state officers.
The three, who are facing criminal charges over leaks that compromised police investigation, include former assistant commissioner Noel Ashby.
"I believe they will be charged," Nixon said on Friday after describing how she felt "betrayed" by the revelations, gathered through secret telephone intercepts.
The report also said that police union chief Paul Mullett wanted a "puppet" commissioner he could control and was "motivated to gain personal power".
The revelations prompted new demands for a judicial inquiry into the Victoria police force, already tainted from charges of links to brutal gangland killings between 1998 and 2006.
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