Salii Aide Guilty Of Gun Attack

Palau

REPUBLIC OF Palau President Lazarus Salii’s special assistant and two other Government employees have been convicted of firing guns at the home of Speaker of the House Santos Oli kong. The court found presidential aide Joel Toribiong and his co-defendants guilty of illegal possession of firearms and am munition, plus riot. The trio was not con victed on three other charges, including attempted murder and aggravated assault.

Each was sentenced to 15 years jail for the firearm charge, five years for ammunition and six months for rioting, the sentences to be served concurrently. However, the three convicted men are free on bail pend ing an appeal.

On September 6, 1987, shots were fired from a speeding car at the Speaker’s resi dence. Twelve people were inside at the time, including a baby. Nobody was hit by the gunfire. The following day the 71 -year old father of peace activist Roman Bedor was shot dead, a bomb exploded near the home of an elderly pacifist, injuring her daughter, and a meeting house linked to dissident High Chief Ibedul Yutaka Gib bons was burned down.

On September 8, a court challenge by Palau’s matriarchs aimed at preserving Palau’s constitutional ban on nuclear sub stances was dropped. The matriarchs cited fear of reprisal as the reason for not pur suing their case. Mr Toribiong and fellow Government workers Paul Ueki and Tad ashi Sakuma were subsequently charged in connection with the shooting incident at the Speaker’s household.

The trio’s non-jury trial, presided over by Palau National Court Judge Frederick O’Brien, began on January 26. Witnesses during the trial included four police offi cers, who testified that they saw the sus pects around the time of the crime in an

Ed Rampell reports on a reign of terror.

unmarked red sedan identified by eye witnesses as the getaway car.

House of Delegates Speaker Olikong is a staunch opponent of a proposed Com pact of Free Association between Palau and the United States. This treaty would override Palau’s anti-nuclear constitution and grant the United States military ac cess to the strategically located Western Pacific archipelago. The Compact would terminate an American-administered United Nations Trusteeship and grant Pa lau home rule and substantial United States aid. In January, Speaker Olikong told the US Congress that Compact foes are regularly intimidated by supporters of the Salii administration.

According to activist attorney Roman Bedor and others, the car used by the men who murdered Bedor’s father matches the description of the vehicle used by the gun men in the Olikong case. Prosecutor Basse, however, says that the special assistant to the president and the two other men have not been charged with the Bedor homi

cide, which the authorities are still investigating.

As of going to press, the General Ac counting Office’s Palau probe has not been made public. This investigation into the “reign of terror” on Palau by the US Congressional watchdog agency will help the US Congress to determine, among other things, whether or not the proposed Compact has been internally ratified in accord with the Palauan constitutional process.

Dissenters who oppose the treaty told the US Congress during hearings early this year at Washington that they wished to mount a legal challenge to the Compact, but feared reprisals. The dissidents re quested US Congressional guarantees for their safety when they refiled the court challenge that has twice been withdrawn because of intimidation. To date Congress still has not voted on the Compact’s ulti mate ratification, which still requires UN Security Council approval, according to the UN Charter. □

President Lazarus Salii.