Lord Tu’ivakano sentenced next Friday [1]
Friday, April 17, 2020 - 19:04
Tonga's former Prime Minister, Lord Tu’ivakano, will be sentenced on Friday, April 24 following his conviction on four counts, two of which relate to the issuance of Tongan passports to Chinese nationals.
He will be sentenced by Lord Chief Justice Whitten at the Supreme Court in Nuku'alofa.
This morning oral submissions on sentencing were made by Crown Prosecutor Semisi Lutui (Director of Public Prosecutions) and defense counsel Wiliam Clive Edwards. Written submissions had already been filed to the Court.
The Chief Justice after hearing the submissions confirmed the sentencing for 9:00am, April 24.
Lord Tu'ivakano, who was present in Court remains on bail under strict conditions.
Guilty
On March 9, after 21-days of trial, a jury of seven found the accused guilty on three charges of making a false statement for the purpose of obtaining a passport, perjury and possession of ammunition without a licence (212 pieces).
He will also be sentenced on a fourth count of possession of an arm without a licence (.22 rifle), which he had pleaded guilty to.
Particulars of the charges were:
- On making a false statement, that on July 17, 2015 with the purpose of obtaining a passport for Hua Guo and Xing Liu, and with intent to deceive the Immigration Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the accused wrote a letter to the Immigration Division, stating that these two were naturalised as Tongans on October 29, 2014, and he had reasonable cause to believe that statement was misleading.
- For perjury, the accused was charged that on December 21, 2015, he made an oath in an affidavit, stating in paragraphs 6 and 7 that "Mr Huo Guo and Ms Xing Liu were naturalised during his tenure as the Minister of Foreign Affairs" and that "after naturalisation Tongan passports were issued to these two", when he knew these statements were false.
- On the possession of an arm and ammunition without a license, Police had seized 212 pieces of ammunition and a .22 rifle during a search warrant, at his home in Kolofo'ou, on March 1, 2018.
The accused, who is Tonga's former Prime Minister and former Minister for Foreign Affairs, pleaded not guilty to 10 counts, at the start of the trial on February 11.
However, the Crown dropped six charges of bribery and money laundering in relation to the issuance of Tongan passports to these Chinese nationals, during the course of the trial.
He is a current member of Tonga's Legislative Assembly, as a long-standing Tongatapu Noble's Representative.