The public prosecutor in French Polynesia, Jose Thorel, has been summoned in France for allegedly defaming two Corsican men by liking them to mafia members.
Mr Thorel, who worked in Corsica before his transfer to Tahiti last year, commented on high profile individuals charged in separate crime probes.
The two are the president of a leading football club and the founder of a security company.
Asked by the media about governance issues in French Polynesia in the days of Gaston Flosse, Mr Thorel said while Mr Flosse was not very intelligent he was malicious but not like the two Corsicans.
The news agency AFP says their lawyer has now lodged a complaint with the criminal court in Paris.
