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Ex-minister charged with arson
16/05/2006 10:11 - (SA)
Honiara - A former Solomon Islands foreign minister and one time militant leader appeared in court on Tuesday on charges of arson and inciting rioting that rocked this South Pacific capital last month.
Alex Bartlett joined two lawmakers named as cabinet ministers in the new government of Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare who had also been charged with inciting the April 18 rioting, arson and looting.
Bartlett, 53, a former lawmaker and former leader of the disbanded militant group, the Malaita Eagle Force, was detained in police custody until Thursday.
Bartlett told a man to burn down a building
Bartlett faced one charge of inciting a riot and two counts of arson.
The maximum sentence for inciting a riot was life, which saw an offender spend 10-15 years in prison, depending on the sentencing judge.
Prosecutor Paul Bannister alleged that Bartlett instructed a man to burn down a building in Honiara's Chinatown business district during the rioting.
Violence sparked by the election of former prime minister Snyder Rini devastated much of the Chinatown area and forced several hundred Chinese citizens to flee the islands' nation.
Police, culture minister in custody
Bannister said that witnesses had seen Bartlett on the streets of Chinatown shaking hands with looters and encouraging them to continue the destruction.
The court would reconvene on Thursday for what was expected to be magistrate William Seri Seneka's ruling on whether Bartlett had a case to answer.
He joined police minister Charles Dausabea and culture minister Nelson Ne'e in custody after both men were detained on charges relating to the riots.
Dausebea and Ne'e were arrested on May 5 and had been in police custody since. Bartlett also faced a raft of criminal charges dating back to ethnic tension that rocked the Solomon Islands in 2000.
Bartlett charged with arson
During that period, Bartlett was general secretary of the MEF - which overthrew the government of then premier Bartholomew Ulufa'alu.
After a lengthy police investigation, Bartlett was charged with arson, procuring arson, possession of firearms, demanding with menace, demanding property on forged documents and receiving stolen property.
He was released on bail in February after 17 months in detention because of his deteriorating health.
Bartlett had to resign as foreign minister in the government of former premier Sir Allan Kemakeza because of the criminal charges.
The Solomons was a poverty-wracked archipelago, 3 840km northeast of New Zealand's capital, Wellington.
- AP
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