PACIFIC ISLANDS REPORT

Pacific Islands Development Program/East-West Center
With Support From Center for Pacific Islands Studies/University of Hawai‘i

By S. Alfred Sasako

MALAITA, Solomon Islands (Aug. 29, 2007) - Much has been said about the Julian Moti affair, a sad state of affairs I might add, which for me is of little or no significance at all to Solomon Islands and its people. Except one aspect. I will expound on this below.

Why it was allowed to preoccupy as it did so much time and energy of the Grand Coalition for Change Government is truly amazing. And even more amazing is the array of people offshore whose personal and official assistance the Solomon Islands government had secured to help Moti get to Honiara.

As an observer and a Solomon Islander, the issue in this case that matters to me most is the need to establish whether or not Prime Minister Sogavare and his government were misled over the status of Moti’s case in Vanuatu? The Government has bombarded us with reports that the case against Moti in Vanuatu had been cleared. But has it? Similarly, I am eager to know too who might have misled the government, if indeed the people of Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea have been misled.

Prompted by these and other questions, I did my own research. What I found as I’m sure many others have is truly amazing. As it is a legal matter, it is prudent to go to the source.

The source is none other than the Registrar of the Vanuatu Supreme Court. His letter of 20 February 2007 confirmed that the criminal matter of DPP vs Julian Moti "is still pending before the Supreme Court of Vanuatu".

The notice of exparte application was filed on 8th September 1999. It sought leave to apply for order of certiorari to remove from the jurisdiction of the Magistrates’ Court into the Supreme Court and quash the decision of the Senior Magistrates’ Court dated 23rd August 1999 in dismissing charges against Mr. Moti and not committing him for trial upon information. The Notice of Application was accompanied by affidavits in support.

The next paragraph of the Registrar’s letter is pretty telling. It says this and I quote:

"The application is pending because the defendant in the matter had not returned to the Vanuatu jurisdiction and therefore [is] unavailable to be heard by the Supreme Court of Vanuatu and the Public Prosecutor had not applied for the withdrawal of the application which is therefore pending hearing and determination by the Supreme Court of Vanuatu.…".

The Registrar’s letter makes clear two irrefutable facts. First the case against Moti is pending [open, awaiting trial] in the highest court in that jurisdiction, the Vanuatu Supreme Court.

Secondly, Moti has not set foot in Vanuatu since 8th September 1999. Why?

No one knows whether avoiding Vanuatu is deliberate on Moti’s part. I shall leave that to his conscience.

Here, I find myself in a quandary. Whose story should I believe in this matter – Moti’s and the proponents of his line or the Registrar of Vanuatu Supreme Court who has the oversight of all cases before that court?

In other words, it’s Moti’s word against the Registrar of the Vanuatu Supreme Court.

Of equal importance is the nagging question as to why Moti had never set foot in Vanuatu since September 1999 when the Senior Magistrates ruling is being questioned. The other fact too is that Moti once had a law firm office in Vanuatu. Has that office now ceased or has it been remote-controlled offshore for obvious reason? This question begs an answer because if indeed Moti had been cleared of the case in Vanuatu, he should have no problem returning to that country.

If he has nothing to hide or fear, it is the expectation of every thinking Solomon Islands citizen that their Attorney General goes to Vanuatu to clear his name in that jurisdiction’s Supreme Court of the alleged wrongdoing for which he stands accused. Refusing to do so, invites more questions than answers from the public.

This brings me to my next point. It is this.

The suggestion that Australia instigated Moti’s woes is just as laughable as it is ludicrous. And it is grossly untrue. First, the dates don’t reconcile. This is a point that’s been made amply clear in the Registrar’s letter. The Registrar confirmed that the case was filed by the DPP on 8th September 1999. Australia’s application for Moti’s extradition was only made last year – a good seven years apart.

Australia has shown interest in the case because of its own Child Sex Tourism law passed in 2003 and that Moti, since leaving or escaping from Vanuatu, has become an Australian citizen. In fact, Australia’s pursuit of Moti is strengthened by the fact that the case against the man is alive and well in the Supreme Court of Vanuatu.

It is important to note a number of things mentioned in the Registrar’s letter. For example, the exparte application sought, first of all to remove the case from the jurisdiction of the Magistrates Court and into the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court so that the Supreme Court can deal with it. Once this is done, the Supreme Court will then hear the second part of the application, which is to quash or make void the decision of the Senior Magistrate who dismissed Moti’s case. Once this phase is successfully concluded, the next thing is for the Supreme Court to hear Moti’s case.

Strangely, Moti has been avoiding Vanuatu. Why?

The case in Vanuatu could have been closed a long time ago. But it did not.

Two reasons were given why the case is still open in Vanuatu. The defendant has not returned to Vanuatu since September 1999 so he could face the Supreme Court. Secondly, the DPP who filed the initial application has not [not] applied to withdraw the case.

So whose story should Solomon Islands ordinary citizens believe – Moti’s or the Registrar of Vanuatu Supreme Court? The credibility of the two men is at stake. You be the judge.

For me, enough is enough. It is important Moti clears his good name before holding the nation’s top legal post. He has nothing to lose if he has nothing to hide. Let’s get out of pushing ourselves on to the listing of the laughing stock nations of the world in this mad case controversy. It is total madness to continue with it.

The suggestion that Solomon Islands should take the matter to the International Court of Justice is just as laughable as it is unbelievable. Gee, there must be something in Moti most Solomon Islanders don’t seem to see that we are prepared to throw in every ounce of the nation’s resources to back the man up all the way to The Hague?

Especially at a time when our national airline is surviving on a hand-to-mouth situation, the much-touted Constituency Development Officers have not been paid following their appointments about a month ago. And the list goes on.

My conclusion is that if Moti is indeed the jewel of the crown for the Government, let him go to Vanuatu to clear his name. Until this is done, serious doubts remain over the government’s line that Moti has been cleared by a Vanuatu court. All the evidence show the opposite is true.