Twelve members of the Nauru 19 pro-democracy group are jailed more than four years after they were arrested and charged following protests outside of Parliament.
Twelve members of the Nauru 19 pro-democracy group have been jailed more than four years after they were arrested and charged following protests outside of Parliament.Successive governments have refused to speak to the ABC about the trialThe opposition MPs and their supporters were first charged with rioting and disturbing the legislature following a protest against government corruption outside the Parliament in 2015.
The 12 defendants were remanded in custody pending their sentencing. A further three from the original 19 pleaded guilty, and three have fled the country.were found guilty last weekHowever, the Nauru Government claims they were not denied legal representation, but rather the defendants"refused local representation", including the services of the public defender.
Court documents show former foreign minister Mathew Batsiua was sentenced to 18 months, but with a seven-month discount — and 50 per cent of the remaining sentence suspended — he will only serve five-and-a-half months of jail time. The other 10 men and one woman will serve a range of shorter sentences with similar discounts applied.Australian barrister Stephen Lawrence, who earlier represented the group during their legal battle, said the Nauru 19"should not have been charged in the first place"."We're talking about the only people on the island of Nauru who stood up against what were really grave crimes against democracy.
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