In January 2014,

Nauru Nauru ( or ; na, Naoero), officially the Republic of Nauru ( na, Repubrikin Naoero) and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in Oceania, in the Central Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in Ki ...

's President Baron Waqa fired the country's only magistrate Peter Law, and cancelled the visa of its Chief Justice

Geoffrey Eames Geoffrey Michael Eames (born 26 November 1945) is an Australian jurist, who was a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria. He served in the trial division of the Court from 1992 to 2002, and was then a member of the Court of Appeal until 2007. ...

(both Australian-based justices). Law was fired after issuing an injunction to temporarily halt the deportation of three foreign nationals. Eames issued an injunction in an unsuccessful attempt to temporarily halt Law's deportation. Eames was in Australia at the time and his visa was cancelled, preventing his return to Nauru. In the same month, the application fee for visas for foreign journalists was raised from $200 to $8000. In May and June 2014, Waqa suspended 5 of the 7 members of Nauru's Opposition from Parliament indefinitely. Three of the MPs, Mathew Batsiua,

Kieren Keke Kieren Aedogan Ankwong Keke (born 27 June 1971) is a Nauruan politician and medical doctor. He is a member of the Parliament of Nauru and former Minister of Finance and Minister of Foreign Affairs. Background He is currently a leading figure o ...

and Roland Kun, were suspended in May 2014 for making comments to international media critical of the government and the alleged breakdown of the rule of law. Another two, Sprent Dabwido (a former president) and

Squire Jeremiah Squire Jeremiah is a Nauruan politician. As of 2012, he was the president of NGO Emendena Eimwi, "recently established" to raise public awareness of corruption and bribery issues in the country, and to lobby the government for more effective mea ...

were suspended a month later for behaving in an unruly manner. In June 2015, Jeremiah, Dabwido, and Batsiua were arrested and Kun had his passport cancelled amid claims that they had been trying to destabilise the Government by talking to foreign media. 19 people were charged with

unlawful assembly Unlawful assembly is a legal term to describe a group of people with the mutual intent of deliberate disturbance of the peace. If the group is about to start an act of disturbance, it is termed a rout; if the disturbance is commenced, it is then ter ...

and other offences following a protest outside the Parliament of Nauru on 16 June 2015. 3 pleaded guilty and the District Court sentenced 2 to imprisonment for 3 months and the 3rd to 6 months imprisonment. The Supreme Court of Nauru allowed an appeal, finding that the sentences were manifestly inadequate and increased them to 14 months and 22 months imprisonment. The

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is Australia's apex court. It exercises Original jurisdiction, original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified within Constitution of Australia, Australia's Constitution. The High Court was established fol ...

quashed the decision and remitted it to the Supreme Court "differently constituted, for hearing according to law." The charges against Jeremiah, Dabwido, and Batsiua had a long and complex history. On 21 June 2018 Justice Geoff Muecke in the

Supreme Court of Nauru The Supreme Court of Nauru was the highest court in the judicial system of the Republic of Nauru till the establishment of the Nauruan Court of Appeal in 2018. Constitutional establishment It is established by part V of the Constitution, adopt ...

ordered Nauru to pay their costs of defending the charges, in the amount of $224,021.90. Nauru did not pay this amount and on 13 September 2018 Justice Muecke ordered a permanent stay of the proceedings against them. The Nauru government is appealing this decision to the Nauru Court of Appeal and will be heard by Michael Scott, the former

Chief Justice of Tonga Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

John Muria Sir Gilbert John Baptist Muria is a Solomon Islands judge and was the first indigenous Solomon Islander to be Chief Justice of the Solomon Islands. Muria was Chief Justice of the Solomon islands from 1992 to 2003. He then sat as a judge on the cou ...

, the

Chief Justice of Kiribati The Judiciary of Kiribati is the branch of the Government of Kiribati which interprets and applies the laws of the country. In addition to the Constitution of Kiribati and the corpus of laws, the laws of Kiribati include customary law, which the ...

and Nicholas Kirriwom, a judge of the

Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea The Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea has been the highest court of Papua New Guinea since 16 September 1975, replacing the pre-Independence Supreme Court (corresponding to the post-Independence National Court) and the overseas appellate tribunal ...

References

External links

Abbott government under pressure to cut Nauru aid after New Zealand crackdown
Sydney Morning Herald, 4 September 2015
Court delay keeps Nauru opposition MPs Squire Jeremiah and Sprent Dabwido in custody until Tuesday
Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 21 June 2015
Former top judge says NZ response to Nauru weak
Radio NZ, 27 June 2015

Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 24 June 2015
McCully quizzed on Nauru
Otago Daily Times, 27 June 2015

Sydney Morning Herald, May 15, 2014

Pacific Islands Report, 22 June 2015
Nauru Opposition MPs suspended, others arrested for 'trashing' state
22 June 2015
New Zealand Government seeks reassurances from Nauru after protests
Radio NZ, 26 June 2015
Odds stacked against Nauru MPs, says former Chief Justice
Radio NZ, 26 June 2015 {{DEFAULTSORT:Nauru government crackdown on opposition (2014-2015) Politics of Nauru 2014 in Nauru 2015 in Nauru

See also

References

External links