Pilot thwarts Kiribati government’s bid to deport Australian-born judge
Government tried to expel suspended High Court judge despite order blocking his deportation
ANKARA
The Pacific island nation of Kiribati faces a growing constitutional crisis as the government faces off with the judiciary over the deportation of an Australian-born judge.
The latest twist in the saga came on Thursday, when authorities tried to force suspended High Court judge David Lambourne onto a plane, defying a Court of Appeal order blocking his expulsion.
The captain of the Fiji Airways flight, however, refused to take the judge on board against his will, Australian broadcaster ABC News reported.
The Court of Appeal on Friday ordered the attorney general to take “all steps necessary” to ensure Lambourne is not deported, warning that any such attempt could be viewed as contempt of court.
Lambourne, who has lived in Kiribati for 27 years, was suspended by President Taneti Maamau’s government over alleged misconduct in May.
An independent tribunal has been formed by the government to investigate “complaints and allegations from the public against Justice Lambourne,” the report said.
The crisis deepened in June, when Chief Justice William Hastings was also suspended before he could hear Lambourne’s appeal against the government’s decision.
The suspensions of the two judges “have left Kiribati without a functioning High Court,” the report said.
Lambourne returned to Kiribati on Aug. 1 “after being stranded in Australia” since he went there for a conference in February 2020.
The government’s deportation order labelled Lambourne “a threat or risk to security,” but the Court of Appeal ruled on Friday that it would be “unlawful” to expel him from the country on those grounds.
Lambourne accused the government of targeting him because of his wife, Tessie Lambourne, the leader of Kiribati’s main opposition party.
“Given the very tenuous nature of the allegations that have been raised against me, this is just a very determined attempt by the government to try and force my wife out of politics,” he told ABC News.
“They clearly see her as a significant threat to them [and] the only way they can get to her is by getting me.”
* Writing by Islamuddin Sajid
