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Monday, May 08, 2006
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Solomon Island lawmakers charged over riots named to Cabinet The Solomon Islands' new prime minister on Friday named as head of the country's police force a colleague now jailed on charges of inciting rioting which brought down the previous government.
Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare named Charles Dausabea as his police minister, while legislator Nelson Ne'e -- who is also in custody on charges relating to inciting riots and intimidation -- has been appointed tourism and culture minister. Dausabea and Ne'e were arrested and charged only days after the April 18 riot in the capital, Honiara, which saw the city's Chinatown district torched and forced several hundred Chinese residents to flee the islands. Both men are accused of helping incite the violence, arson and looting that swept the Solomons' capital after former premier Snyder Rini's election as prime minister. He was forced to resign from office eight days later. Sogavare said Friday that the two ministers were innocent until proven guilty. "Nothing has been proven against these two," he said, adding they "are elected by (the) people ... under the democratic process. These people (voters) have the right to be represented." Dausabea, arrested on April 24 after a search of the capital, faces three counts -- inciting a riot, intimidating a hotel security guard and threatening to destroy a hotel. Prosecutors allege Dausabea told about 200 people in front of Parliament, where the riot began, that the opposition coalition had lost the vote and to "go and do what you have to do." The pair are due to reappear in the Honiara Magistrate's Court on May 9. Special procedures were used to enable them to vote from prison in Thursday's prime ministerial election, won by Sogavare 28-22. They were unable to attend a ceremony at Government House on Friday when 19 other ministers were sworn in by Governor General Sir Nathaniel Waena. Sogavare, the troubled nation's second leader in as many weeks, said the government would seek legal advice on how to have the pair sworn into office to enable them to carry out their duties. Dausabea has previously been convicted on charges including fraud and making menacing threats and served several years in prison. Also in Sogavare's Cabinet are two former prime ministers who were in power during several years of bloody civil unrest that brought the nation to the brink of failing as a viable state. |
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