26 Nov 2012

Former Samoa Cabinet minister to be resentenced on indecent assault conviction

7:37 pm on 26 November 2012

Samoa's former minister of Broadcasting and Health is to reappear in court to be re-sentenced after the Court of Appeal upheld an appeal by state lawyers against a Supreme Court sentence.

Mulitalo Siafausa was found guilty of ten counts of indecent assault and was ordered to pay a compensation of one-and-half-thousand US dollars to the victim.

He was also to carry out community service.

But the court of appeal judges, after reviewing section 113 of the Criminal Procedure Act 1972, ruled there is nothing in this section to impose a penalty in terms of a compensation paid by the defendant to a victim of a sexual crime.

The court has yet to set a date for the former minister to be re-sentenced.