Hearing of appeal by 14 jailed MPs on Thursday

The Court of Appeal, comprising of a panel of eight judges will hear the appeal case of the nation’s 14 jailed MPs at 9am on Thursday,November 12.

The MPs are appealing their conviction dated October 9,2015 and sentencing on October 22.

Deputy Prime Minister and MP Moana Carcasses is represented by lawyer John Malcolm and Santo Rural MP Serge Vohor by lawyer Collin Leo. MPs Thomas Laken and Silas Yatan are represented by lawyer Less Napuati.

MP Tony Nari and others are represented by lawyer Gordon Avock, MPs Paul Telukluk and Steven Kalsakau by lawyer Felix Laumae and lawyer Daniel Yahwa is standing for MPs Jean-Yves Chabod and Marcellino Pipite.

The hearing was initially set to start yesterday morning.

But Public Prosecutor Josiah Naigulevu apologized before the court for a delay in the process as he confirmed the Prosecution office continued to receive late submissions from the defence counsels, with the last (submission) received 7.30am yesterday.

Justice John William Von Doussa granted time to the prosecution until the end of today, to look through the submissions before the appeal case can be heard on Thursday.

Chief Justice Vincent Lunabek made the opening remarks at the beginning of the Appeal Court session Monday morning and said that the court would first hear criminal cases — one of them the bribery case involving the jailed MPs, before other cases.

The Appeal Court has also set 9am Monday to hear the Constitutional Case challenging the Supreme Court verdict to uphold Head of State, President Baldwin Lonsdale’s overturning of now imprisoned Speaker Marcellino Pipite’s self-pardoning and 13 other MPs, when he was Acting President prior sentencing by the court.

Previously on October 21,2015 Supreme Court Justice Oliver Saksak,who presided over the urgent consolidated Constitutional Applications in relation to the presidential pardon and revocation declared: (i) Mr Pipite’s instrument of pardon for himself and 13 others, dated October 10, 2015, unconstitutional, void and of no effect.(ii)The instrument of pardon quashed; and Constitutional Application No.7, in which MPs Serge Vohor, Tony Wright and Jonas James challenge the revocation of their pardons, dismissed.

Speaker Pipite in his capacity as Acting president was convicted together with all 13 MPs of bribery of officials contrary to section 73(1) and 73 (2) of the Penal Code Act.On October 10, the Acting President exercised the power under Article 38 of the Constitution to pardon himself and other 13 applicants and caused the instrument of pardon to be gazetted on the same date.

On the 16th, President Londsdale revoked the pardon of October 10 by way of Pardon (Revocation) Order No. 144 of 2015 and the Revocation Order was gazetted on the same date.

Meanwhile, a total of six different notices of Appeal were filed for the convicted MPs,challenging their conviction and sentencing.