9 Nov 2015

Appeals in Vanuatu bribery case this week

2:32 pm on 9 November 2015

The appeals of the 14 Vanuatu MPs jailed for bribery last month are set to be heard on Thursday.

A panel of eight judges will be presiding over the normal and final Court of Appeal session of the year.

The office of the supreme court says there are six different notices of appeal filed by the 14 MPs who are serving their sentence at the Port Vila Correctional Center.

The jailed MPs include four ministers of the Sato Kilman-led government, including his deputy, Moana Carcasses.

The mass conviction has prompted calls to form a government of national unity but the there has been no decision.

The president, Baldwin Lonsdale, had originally given the politicians until Friday to resolve the crisis but then put off any possible dissolution of parliament.

He has now given them until November the 22nd to end the impasse.

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Photo: 123RF

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