A controversial Solomon Islands politician sacked as the country's attorney general this week will be deported to Australia Thursday to face child sex charges, it was reported Wednesday.
The Solomons government had finalised deportation orders for Julian Moti and he would be put on a flight from Honiara to Brisbane Thursday afternoon, Australian Associated Press reported. "Whether he's packed his bags or not is not my problem," Solomons immigration department permanent secretary Jeffrey Wickham told AAP.
Moti is wanted in Australia for the alleged rape of a 13-year-old girl in Vanuatu in 1997. He was dismissed from his post after he lost a legal battle to stay in the country. In a weekend High Court hearing, Chief Justice Albert Palmer ruled Moti's right to remain in the Solomon Islands was by virtue of his political appointment and not as an individual.
The new Solomons government of Derek Sikua has pledged to send Moti back to Australia as part of its policy to improve relations with Canberra. Sikua was elected prime minister of the impoverished South Pacific nation last week shortly after previous leader Manesseh Sogavare lost a confidence vote moved in part because of his deteriorating relations with Australia.