A prominent Solomon Islands lawyer says his advice to the prime minister Gordon Darcy Lilo over allegations that he, the prime minister, paid compensation for sexual misconduct would have been to stay out of court.
The comment follows a report in the Solomon Star that the facebook group that first aired the allegations has lodged a case against the prime minister over the alleged misconduct with the Leadership Code Commission.
The prime minister is reported to be taking a defamation case against both the newspaper and the facebook group, Forum Solomon Islands International.
Andrew Nori says it is probably best to avoid court in such matters.
"If I were advising the prime minister I would not advise him to go to court. Because first of all, allegations like that in Solomon Islands come up and then they die away and then things go back to normal. It's always prudent to make denials, to make statements and then leave the matter without going to court.'"
Andrew Nori says going to court also means that material evidence is submitted which can further intensify the debate and take it into the public arena.
