Consenting Adults Still Being Prosecuted in Samoa

Deidre Tautua-Fanene reports at sobserver.ws about another unjust and ridiculous prosecution of consenting adults for loving each other.

A brother and sister who became the subject of a Police investigation as a result of allegations of incest last month, have been charged.

Why? There is no victim to this "crime."

This was confirmed by Acting Assistant Commissioner Sala’a Moananu Sala’a.

“Police have completed their investigations and the brother and sister have been charged,” said Sala’a.

“The incident occurred in one of the villages in Savaii last month and it was the pastor who reported the incident to the Police at Vaito’omuli.

“They are scheduled to appear in Supreme Court for first mention on the 17th of July before Chief Justice, His Honor, Patu Tiavasu’e Falefatu Sapolu.

Do the right thing and throw this case out of court!

“According to the pastor, the brother and the sister go to the denomination that he looks after and he believes they are in a relationship,” Sala’a said.

“The brother is 26 years old while the sister is 18 years old.

So they are consenting adults. Leave them alone! They should be free to have sex, to hold hands, to live together, or to marry, if that's what they want.

At the moment, the brother is in custody while his sister is out on bail but has to sign in at the Vaito’omuli Police Station.

What a waste of resources! Every bit of time or money spent on such cases is time and money that could go to fighting real crimes, with actual victims.

It's another example of why full marriage equality is needed.