01-17-2011, 11:19 AM
A New Zealander is among four people who will stand trial in Tonga next month in relation to the deaths of 74 people on the ferry Princess Ashika in 2009.
The Nuku'alofa Supreme Court set February 7 as the opening of the jury trial for the four facing manslaughter charges.
The 37-year-old Princess Ashika sank on August 5, 2009, north of Tongatapu. All the women and children aboard died.
The ferry was operated by the government-owned Shipping Corporation of Polynesia (SCP) whose CEO, Christchurch businessman John Jonesse, will go on trial.
Along with ferry captain Makahokovalu Tuputupu, first mate Semisi Pomale and former Ministry of Transportation director Viliami Tu'ipulotu he will face a charge of manslaughter by negligence, in relation to the death of 21-year old Vae Fetu'u Taufa whose body was one of only two recovered in the tragedy. The other was a British national.
Tuputupu, Tu'ipulotu, Jonesse and the SCP are charged with five counts each of sending an unseaworthy ship to sea, that is, for the five voyages Princess Ashika took before finally sinking.
Tuputupu and the SCP are also charged for lacking a valid safety certificate, a load line certificate and additional safety documentation for the ferry.
Jonesse faces additional charges of forgery and knowingly dealing with a forged document.
The trial will be before Justice Robert Schuster and a jury of seven.
The Crown say they will call 30 witnesses and the trial is expected to last a month.
A Royal Commission of Inquiry last year found Ashika to be a "scandalous maritime disaster".
The rusting ship was purchased in Fiji for F$600,000 (NZ$438,000).
"The tragedy is that they were all easily preventable and the deaths were completely senseless," the commission's 630-word report says.
The ship was "unquestionably unseaworthy and in an appalling condition."
It should never have been allowed to sail.
"Princess Ashika was in such a poor state that an accident was inevitable, it only required the right set of circumstances to come along."
The commission slammed the attitude of Prime Minister Feleti Sevele and New Zealanders David Karalus, who was Transport Minister, and Jonesse.
Sources: http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/south-pacif...ka-sinking
The Nuku'alofa Supreme Court set February 7 as the opening of the jury trial for the four facing manslaughter charges.
The 37-year-old Princess Ashika sank on August 5, 2009, north of Tongatapu. All the women and children aboard died.
The ferry was operated by the government-owned Shipping Corporation of Polynesia (SCP) whose CEO, Christchurch businessman John Jonesse, will go on trial.
Along with ferry captain Makahokovalu Tuputupu, first mate Semisi Pomale and former Ministry of Transportation director Viliami Tu'ipulotu he will face a charge of manslaughter by negligence, in relation to the death of 21-year old Vae Fetu'u Taufa whose body was one of only two recovered in the tragedy. The other was a British national.
Tuputupu, Tu'ipulotu, Jonesse and the SCP are charged with five counts each of sending an unseaworthy ship to sea, that is, for the five voyages Princess Ashika took before finally sinking.
Tuputupu and the SCP are also charged for lacking a valid safety certificate, a load line certificate and additional safety documentation for the ferry.
Jonesse faces additional charges of forgery and knowingly dealing with a forged document.
The trial will be before Justice Robert Schuster and a jury of seven.
The Crown say they will call 30 witnesses and the trial is expected to last a month.
A Royal Commission of Inquiry last year found Ashika to be a "scandalous maritime disaster".
The rusting ship was purchased in Fiji for F$600,000 (NZ$438,000).
"The tragedy is that they were all easily preventable and the deaths were completely senseless," the commission's 630-word report says.
The ship was "unquestionably unseaworthy and in an appalling condition."
It should never have been allowed to sail.
"Princess Ashika was in such a poor state that an accident was inevitable, it only required the right set of circumstances to come along."
The commission slammed the attitude of Prime Minister Feleti Sevele and New Zealanders David Karalus, who was Transport Minister, and Jonesse.
Sources: http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/south-pacif...ka-sinking