17 Feb 2017

Prisoner who fled Samoa tries to stop deportation

2:07 pm on 17 February 2017
Part of Tafaigata prison cells

Samoa's Tafaigata prison, where Valufitu Fiu Uolilo. Photo: RNZI / Autagavaia Tipi Autagavaia

An Australian inmate who escaped from a prison in Samoa and then fled to Australia has gone to court to stop his deportation.

Valufitu Fiu Uolilo applied to an Australian court that he not be deported back to serve his jail sentence because he is an Australian citizen.

Uolilo was serving a two-year sentence for causing bodily harm and six months for being armed with a dangerous weapon when he escaped from Tafaigata prison last August.

A police spokesperson Su'a Muli'aga Tiumalu says the police are preparing to appeal against the court ruling.

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