30 Nov 2012

Former Samoa cabinet minister facing likely jail term

12:53 pm on 30 November 2012

Samoa's former broadcasting and telecommunication minister, Mulitalo Siafausa, is likely to face a jail term after the state appealed his sentence on indecency convictions.

He was originally sentenced to pay one and half thousand dollars compensation to a victim and to carry out community service.

The defendant was scheduled to appear earlier this week for resentencing after the court of appeal upheld the appeal against that sentence, but he failed to show, prompting police to issue an arrest warrant.

A lawyer for Mulitalo told the court that the former politician did not know about the scheduled court appearance.

Mulitalo is on bail until December the 14th but the presiding judge has told him that despite the compensation having already been paid to the victim, a jail term is likely to be the appropriate sentence.