A five-month jail term handed down by a Samoa court for the use of insulting language has been labelled "unlawful, unreasonable, unconstitutional and abuse of process."
The sentence, which had been given in the Ethnic Court, Faamasino Fesoasoani, had exceeded the maximum jail time prescribed under the law.
District Court Judge, Alalatoa Rosella Papali'i, who was sentencing Savelio Mareko on another insulting words conviction, found the man had been wrongly sentenced to a five months term previously, a sentence he was four months and 10 days into completing.
The maximum term on an insulting words charge is three months, or a fine of up to $200.
She said the man had already been detained illegally and he should be released immediately.
Judge Alalatoa also advised Mareko that he was within his rights to take legal action against the court.