Lawmakers reportedly arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defeat the course of justice after Baldwin Lonsdale returned and revoked pardons

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Vanuatu has arrested 11 of the 14 renegade lawmakers who last week created political chaos when one of them granted himself and the others pardons from corruption convictions while the president was abroad.

While the president's away: Vanuatu speaker pardons himself and 13 MPs Read more

The arrests came after the president, Baldwin Lonsdale, tried to reassert control by revoking the pardons.

The lawmakers were arrested Friday on suspicion of conspiracy to defeat the course of justice, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

On 9 October, the supreme court found the parliamentary Speaker, Marcellino Pipite, and 13 other lawmakers guilty of bribery.

A judge said many had accepted bribes of 1 million vatu ($9,000) to help overthrow the previous government.

But the next day, Pipite signed a pardon for himself and the others. Because the president was away, Pipite was the acting head of state.

Pipite told reporters he had signed the pardons in order to maintain stability in the nation of 275,000 people. But the move angered many people in Vanuatu, who had hoped the verdicts would mark an end to the corruption which has plagued the country’s political system.