BY ROMINAH FAKA
The court has dismissed the charge against three defendants who were jointly charged with one count of making a false statement on oath, made otherwise than in a judicial proceeding.
The ruling was delivered on March 4, 2025, at the Magistrate’s Court by Chief Magistrate Emma Garo.
In delivering the ruling, the court found that the charge presented against the three defendants was defective and was bound to fail. Therefore, the court ruled that the only reasonable order available under the circumstances was to dismiss the charge against the defendants.
The three defendants—John Clinty Kokoro, Alosi Jonah, and Jerry Pakivai—were jointly charged with one count of making a false statement on oath, made otherwise than in a judicial proceeding, contrary to Section 103(a) and Section 21(a) of the Penal Code.
The defendants and their defense lawyer applied to have the charges permanently stayed.
The defendants argued that the complainant had ulterior motives in using the criminal justice system to obtain a conviction against them. If proven, this could undermine an order previously made by the High Court in Civil Case No. 88 of 2024.
The defense also argued that the complainant’s motive was to use criminal proceedings to punish the defendants for refusing to support Greenland Enterprise Ltd in its application to conduct logging on the defendants’ customary land.
The defense relied on the sworn statement of Jerry Pakivai to support their application.
The prosecution objected to the defense’s application to have the charge permanently stayed. They argued that the charge against the defendants was not vexatious, frivolous, scandalous, or insulting to the defendants or the criminal justice system.
The prosecution relied on the sworn statement of Johnny Yeh, the Managing Director of Greenland Enterprise Ltd, to support the Crown’s objection to the defense’s application.
The case stemmed from events on March 19, 2024, in Honiara, Guadalcanal Province, when the three defendants, being authorized by law to make a statement on oath for the purpose of giving evidence in Civil Case No. 88/24 (Greenland Enterprise Ltd v. John Kokoro, Jerry Pakivai, and Alosi Jonah) in the High Court of Solomon Islands, willfully made a statement that was material to the case and which they knew to be false.
Jeremy Oiofa appeared for the prosecution, while Joseph Iroga of Florida International Legal Service represented the three defendants.
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