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Charlot Salwai during his perjury trial in December 2020 Photo: Hilaire Bule Earlier this month Mr Salwai was given a two years and three months suspended sentence by supreme Court judge, Andre Wiltens. He has now submitted his appeal to Vanuatu Appeal Court. The Appeal Court is the last avenue for Mr Salwai to maintain his seat in parliament as MP for Pentecost. If the Court upholds the Supreme Court judgment, Mr Salwai will automatically lose his seat and there will be a by election in Pentecost constituency. Found guilty in December, Mr Salwai was found by the Supreme Court to have intent...

Former Vanuatu prime minister Charlot Salwai. Photo: Hilaire Bule Former Vanuatu PM avoids jail time A former Vanuatu prime minister has been given a suspended jail sentence for perjury. Justice Andre Wiltens said Salwai had no previous conviction and sentenced him to two years and three months but suspended the sentence. He said Salwai provided untrue information through his sworn statement to mislead the supreme court of Vanuatu. But he added that Salwai contributed a lot to the national development of Vanuatu, occupied various ministerial portfolios, and an MP for 18 years. Justice Wilten...

Justice Andre Wiltens found guilty last month Mr Salwai on perjury charges. Former Vanuatu prime minister Charlot Salwai outside the Supreme Court ahead of his conviction for perjury. Photo: RNZ / Hilaire Bule The maximum penalty of perjury charge is seven years. The Supreme Court found Salwai had misled the court when he said the Council of Ministers had approved a decision to create parliamentary secretary positions. The case was brought by then-opposition leader Ishmael Kalsakau in November 2019, who said the council had never approved it. The appointment of parliamentary secretary was c...