The judicial authorities in French Polynesia have rejected a bid by a suspect in a major corruption probe, Gaston Tetuanui, to be released from jail.
Mr Tetuanui was arrested in October and transferred to Tahiti's Nuutania prison as part of an investigation into the affairs of a New Caledonian businessman, Bill Ravel.
He was Mr Ravel's associate in Tahiti.
Also jailed is a leading unionist, Cyril Legayic, who is alleged to have been given 160,000 US dollars in cash over four years to contain strikes at Mr Ravel's companies in Papeete.
Mr Tetuanui is accused to have taken some of the money while he acted as a go-between.
So far, two politicians, Oscar Temaru and Jean-Christophe Bouissou, have publicly declared their innocence in the affair
