Republic v Tarabo [2005] KIHC 122; 10-05 (10 August 2005)

IN THE HIGH COURT OF KIRIBATI
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION
HELD AT BETIO
REPUBLIC OF KIRIBATI

High Court Criminal Case No. 10 of 2005

THE REPUBLIC

vs

KAOTINTEUN TARABO

For the Republic: The Solicitor General, Mr David Lambourne with Ms Eweata Maata
For the Accused: Mr Glenn Boswell

Dates of Hearing: 4, 5 & 6 July 2005

SENTENCE

Kaotinteun Tarabo: you have been found guilty of murder and of riot. The only penalty for murder is life imprisonment: the maximum penalty for riot is 14 years’ imprisonment.

On the night of 27 October a large number of men went to Temanokunuea village on Butaritari, caused fear and distress to the inhabitants, damaged property to a claimed value of $90,000 and killed one young man who protested. You live in Temanokunuea village but with your family went to Onomaru village for that night: you and your family were out of harm’s way.

You were the chairman of the Unimane Association. Three families in Temanokunuea village had defied the wishes of the Association and those of the majority of people on Butaritari. The three families had remained defiant. The Unimane left it to you to decide what further action was to be taken more than had already been taken against them.

During the day on 27 October you went from village to village directing that men from each should assemble and to go to Temanokunuea village that night. The various villages complied. You organized the operation which lead to the riot and the murder. If you had not gone from village to village on 27 October this tragedy and outrage would not have happened. You have the heaviest responsibility for them.

You are 58 and married with a family. You have been a leader of the Butaritari community. You have 16 previous convictions. Fourteen of them were between 1970 and 1978. I ignore them for the purposes of sentencing you. Your latest conviction was in 1996 for Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm. You were given 14 month’ imprisonment but for some reason you did not serve the sentence. From a sentence of 14 months it must have been quite a serious assault. It was a crime of violence: you have now been found guilty of inciting two crimes of violence. In fixing sentence now I do not ignore your 1996 conviction for assault.

Mr Boswell submitted that the visit to Temanokunuea by this body of men at night was traditional, in organizing it you were acting on what was common practice. There is no evidence at all of such tradition or practice and what you did was against the law of Kiribati.

Things like this should not happen in a peace-loving, orderly and generally law-abiding society such as we have in Kiribati. I accept the Solicitor General’s submission that your conduct should be severely punished to deter others from doing what you did in inciting people to act in this violent and unlawful way.

For the crime of murder I sentence you to imprisonment for life.

For the crime of riot you will be imprisoned for eight years.

The terms are to begin on 6 July when you went into custody.

Dated the 10th day of August 2005

THE HON ROBIN MILLHOUSE QC
Chief Justice