Pacific

Decision on perjury charge for Tonga's Lord Dalgety in three weeks

13:47 pm on 10 September 2012

In Tonga, a decision on whether or not Lord Dalgety will go to trial on a perjury charge relating to the Princess Ashika Commission of Inquiry will be determined later this month.

74 people lost their lives when the ferry sank on the 5th of August, 2009.

Matangi Tonga reports Justice Charles Cato presided over a pre-trial application last week and reserved his judgement until the 28th of September.

Lord Dalgety, otherwise known as Ramsay Robertson Dalgety, is charged with perjury which relates to a statement he made in January 2010 at the inquiry into the sinking of the Ashika.

The Shipping Corporation of Polynesia Ltd was the operator of the vessel and Lord Dalgety had been company secretary.

Former Justice Robert Shuster had previously quashed the perjury indictment on grounds that it was not dated or signed correctly.

But last year, Tonga's Court of Appeal ordered the indictment be reinstated.