Miss Pacific Islands pageant sparks diplomatic dispute after judges stopped at border

Judge accused of vote rigging after a tie-break between two contestants. Accusations of fraud against a beauty pageant judge and a travel restriction barring their exit have resulted in a diplomatic row between the Solomon Islands and Samoa. Leiataualesa Jerry Brunt, head judge of Miss Pacific Islands, who is from Samoa, and judge Jane Glen Canas, from Vanuatu, were stopped from leaving the host country, Solomon Islands, on Monday, after claims that they interfered with the final results.

The issue began on Saturday, when accusations of vote rigging began to circulate on social media after Miss Samoa, Litara Ieremia Allan, was announced as the winner after a tie between her and Miss Tonga, Racheal Guttenbeil. Brunt confirmed to the ABC that he had not been allowed to leave Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands, when he tried to leave for Samoan capital, Apia, on Tuesday. He added that he was not given a reason as to why he wasn’t allowed to leave.

The Samoan government said on Wednesday that it had requested “official information from the Solomon Islands Attorney General's Office on the circumstances surrounding the stop order” that prevented Brunt's departure, reported RNZ. “The office of Samoa's prime minister wants to ensure legal representation for Leiataualesa is available, while awaiting official details from Honiara,” the statement said.

Solomon Islands stated that a stop notice had been put in place by the minister for home affairs to prevent judges from leaving, according to Reuters. Solomon Islands said that it had lifted the notice on Wednesday afternoon but an investigation into “alleged fraudulent activities during the crowning of the Miss Pacific on Saturday 8th February” was to continue. “The stop notice was necessary to ensure that all judges were present to provide information or assistance in the investigation to resolve the issue of whether fraud was involved in the final results," the government said.

Solomon Islands said charges could follow the investigation, and it may notify American Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu if it needs further information. Brunt has denied all accusations of rigging, telling Indepth Solomon's in an interview: “I can honestly tell you that I don’t even know where that allegation came from.”. “It’s impossible for me to rig any scoresheets in front of thousands of eyes.”.

A lawyer by profession, Brunt has questioned the legal basis behind Solomon Islands’ decision to prevent him leaving the country. “There is no legal basis for Solomon Islands officials to have issued a travel prohibition order against us,” he told Samoa Global News. “Once I am home, I will begin legal proceedings. I will demand an apology from the government of Tonga on behalf of its people for the libel and personal attacks on me, my children, my wife, and my late mother,” he said.

Miss Solomon Islands pageant director Joyce Konofilia asked for calm, and confirmed that the government had taken over the investigation. “I urge our people to remain calm, to bear with us for a little while the government is going through the investigation. We would like to protect the integrity of the Miss Pacific Islands Pageant. Our ultimate goal is to ensure that the pageant does not come into disrepute,” she said.

“At this stage, the government has taken over, and Brunt was stopped from leaving the country. It's a bit beyond us now as the organisers of the event, we are now waiting for a final statement from the government to confirm whether or not they'll release Brunt to leave the country and what will happen next.”. Pamela Naesol, who served as scrutineer at the pageant, explained the voting process to Indepth Solomon’s and stated that established pageant protocols were followed.

“After the onstage interview results were entered into our spreadsheet, we saw a tie between Miss Tonga and Miss Samoa, with each receiving two votes,” Naesol said. In the event of a tie, the head judge, who in this case was Brunt, must cast the deciding vote. “Jerry was the only one who could make the final decision. He voted for Samoa, giving them three votes to Tonga's two, ultimately crowning Miss Samoa as the winner,” Naesol said.

“I want to clarify that if the results were to be rigged, we would be the ones rigging the scores because no one has access to the results apart from me and my colleague, something that has never occurred.”. Miss Tonga Rachael Guttenbeil has spoken up in support of Miss Samoa, saying: “My sister Miss Samoa did so well ... as well as my other Pacific sisters. “On the last day, the girls, we were sharing our thoughts… no matter what happens around us, we stand united, our bond is beautiful and should not be tarnished. If she's announced the winner, let her take the crown.”.

The pageant organisers finally issued a statement on Thursday, saying it “recognises and deeply regrets the distress caused by recent disputes concerning the results”. “Unfortunately, these allegations have escalated to the extent of subjecting contestants to degrading treatment and issuing threats against the lives of certain judges, thereby, detrimentally impacting the camaraderie and ethos of the pageant,” it said.