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Patched gang member William Tuitupou escapes custody at Auckland District Court

By
Kalino Latu
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Police are appealing to the public for sightings of William Tuitupou, who is wanted by Police.

The 48-year-old patched gang member escaped custody at the Auckland District Court at about 11.30am today, after having posed as another prisoner who was being bailed from the court.

Tuitupou had previously been remanded in custody and was taken to court to appear in relation to numerous charges this morning.

Police are currently making a number of enquiries to locate him, including conducting door knocks and reviewing CCTV footage.

Tuitupou is described as 180cm tall, of medium to solid build, with short black hair.

He was wearing a white top with black and white stripped sleeves, with pink shorts and green sneakers at the time.

He is a patched gang member and is considered dangerous and should not be approached by the public.

Anyone who sees Tuitupou or has information about his whereabouts is urged to call 111 or Crimestoppers 0800 555 111.

Police and the Courts are urgently reviewing the circumstances surrounding this incident in order to identify how this was able to occur.

Assault on growers’ co-operative by dictatorial British consul gave King Tupou II opportunity to re-assert his authority

By
Philip Cass
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This is the third and final articles marking Emancipation Day.

A fight over a growers’ co-operative helped King Tupou II regain his authority and curbed the power of the British Consul in Tonga.

The Tonga Ma’a Tonga Kautaha  was established to help Tongan growers sell their copra without going through European middlemen. Despite its rackety accounting procedures and its seat-of-the-pants administration, it increased growers’ incomes so much that some European traders began to worry they would go out of business.

The co-operative was the brainchild of Alexander Cameron, the kind of dissolute, disreputable young man that English families despatched to the colonies in the hope that even if they didn’t do terribly well, they would no longer disgrace the family.

Cameron failed in Sri Lanka and Australia, tried peddling aluminium ladders in India and eventually washed up in Tonga, where, having failed in one more job, he followed the traditional path of the beachcomber and took to drink and the local women.

Setting up the Tonga Ma’a Tonga Kautaha was a stroke of genius. Tongan growers received the same profit for their exports as Europeans and Cameron was regarded with reverence by many of the co-ops members who believed he was “an angel descended from Heaven to deliver them from the bondage of the White traders.”

The success of the Tonga Ma’a Tonga Kautaha co-op drew the attention of the new British consul, William Telfer Campbell, who enlisted the aid of the British-backed Prime Minister Mateialona to shut down the operation and get rid of Cameron.

Campbell has been described as arrogant, pretentious, humourless, unbending, dictatorial and self-important. He interfered in the most trivial matters, terrified his staff and was convinced that the previous Treaties of Friendship and their amendments – particularly that of 1905 – gave him the authority to order the king and Parliament about as he saw fit. He also seems to have been prone to paranoia, seeing plots against him wherever he looked.

Campbell made it clear he regarded King Tupou II as incompetent and believed Tonga should be annexed and the king deposed. He certainly believed that every decision made by the king or the Tongan Parliament had to be referred to him. He tried to interfere in government appointments and insulted members of the nobility by berating them in public.

Campbell then focussed his attention on the Tonga Ma’a Tonga Kautaha, instigating its closure and the seizure of its books and assets. His actions cost about £8,000 in Tonga taxpayers’ money.

According to historian Penelope Lavaka, on whose PhD thesis is article is largely based, the co-operative association served as a vehicle for Tongan hopes of regaining some independence.  Members hoped that European business skills would provide the key to economic improvement.

By February 1910 the association had 3280 members (1280 in Tongatapu, 1200 in Vava’u and 800 in Ha’apai), comprising about 60% of all taxpayers. Among their members were many of Tonga’s most influential chiefs and nobles.

Campbell had nothing but contempt for the co-op and its attempts to bypass European traders. He seems to have found Cameron’s lifestyle, drinking and marriage to the daughter of a European trader and a Tongan woman as reprehensible.

Campbell seized his chance to move against Cameron when he presided over a libel suit Cameron had brought against a former employee. This was when he impounded the co-ops books and after an audit made by a Sydney accountant who was passing through town, Campbell used the resulting report to declare that the books had been faked. He then used this to induce the Prime Minister to close the Tonga Ma’a Tonga Kautaha.

Cameron was charged in the High Commissioner’s Court with having “unlawfully, wilfully and with intent to defraud” published a false balance sheet and embezzled co-op funds. However, when the case went to court in late 1910, the embezzlement charge was  thrown out and Cameron was cleared of falsifying the balance sheet.

Undaunted, Campbell continued his attack on Cameron and the co-op, which had re-emerged as a flourishing business under the direction of Cameron’s former Auckland agent, Robert Millar. Campbell wanted to have Cameron and Millar removed from Tonga, but when the motion was put to the Acting High Commissioner in Fiji, he was told not to involve the High Commission in any way. Given Cameron’s acquittal, the popularity of the co-op and reservations about Campbell’s behaviour, the High Commission saw the situation as politically dangerous. More importantly, the British authorities in Suva saw the power of their agent in Tonga as more limited than he did.

The Tonga Ma’a Tonga Kautaha struck back with their own law suit. They lost the case, but in fact the verdict opened up legal considerations that changed the whole political situation. The Colonial office thought the outcome could be reversed on appeal and believed Prime Minister Mateialona lied during the trial. A week after the trial the co-op re-formed and legislation enacted in Tonga to reinforce the anti-Kautaha faction was found to be constitutionally invalid.

However, Campbell still believed the Treaties and subsequent amendments overrode the Constitution and tried to persuade the High Commissioner to remove the king and deport his European opponents.

Tupou II now argued that Clause III of the 1900 Treaty stopped the British Consul from interfering in Tonga’s internal affairs and said Campbell’’s view of his own position was “totally erroneous.” He said that if he were forced to do whatever Campbell wanted, Tonga would lose the last shreds of independence.

“I have tried to preserve to my people’s national existence, but there is a limit to my endurance,” His Majesty wrote.

“What does Great Britain want? Does she desire to further extend her dominions by adding to her wide empire the little kingdom of Tonga? No resistance can be offered. We can make no appeal to arms. Our only appeal can be made to the justice which is supposed to characterise Great Britain’s treatment of weaker nations.

“Does Great Britain desire to render the foreign traders richer, or does she truly desire to leave my people happy and contented?”

The King also asked for Campbell to be removed, saying his behaviour was ”most  distasteful.”

“We are not deficient in intelligence,” the king wrote.

“Send us a wise and tactful man, to whom we can safely appeal for advice, and you will find that we are not slow to take advantage of wisdom.”

For the first time since the signing of the 1900 Treaty, the Western Pacific High Commission was forced to adopt a new respect for the Kingdom’s autonomy. The Colonial Office said that the 1905 Agreement did not mean the British Consul could insist that the Tongan authorities had to follow their advice on any matter.

The High Commission blamed Campbell for the financial, administrative, legal and constitutional problems arising from his attack on the Tonga Ma’a Tonga Kautaha. He was sent back to England and pensioned off. His successor treated the king much more politely.

On October 14, 1911, Tupou II informed the High Commissioner that Prime Minister Nateialona had lost his confidence. The Tongan constitution empowered the King to dismiss the Prime Minister. The Colonial office realised Mateialona was being punished for his loyalty to the British Consul, but they had to admit they had no legal right to intervene.

In return for the withdrawal of the charges and the promise of a noble title, Mateialona resigned as Prime Minister.  By 1912 the British-Tongan relationship was re-defined to Tonga’s advantage and the authority of King Tupou II was re-established.

As historian Penelope Lavaka put it, the battle over the Tonga Ma’a Tonga Kautaha had given the king a significant victory. It reinforced  the Tongan Government’s right to determine its own policies without the interference of the British Government.

The King has established his ascendancy over the British and over his own Kingdom.

The main points

  • A fight over a growers’ co-operative helped King Tupou II regain his authority and curbed the power of the British Consul in Tonga.
  • The Tonga Ma’a Tonga Kautaha was established to help Tongan growers sell their copra without going through European middlemen. Despite its rackety accounting procedures and its seat-of-the-pants administration, it increased growers’ incomes so much that some European traders began to worry they would go out of business.

For more information

Penelope Lavaka. The Limits of Advice. Britain and the Kingdom of Tonga 1900-1970. PhD thesis. Australian National University, 1981.

Amanda Lee (2019) Tau: A brief history of the Tongan military from the late nineteenth century to the present. MA thesis. University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, 2019.

Heather Devere, Simon Mark & Jane Verbitsky. ‘The language of friendship in international treaties.’ Paper presented to the IXth Congress of the French Association of Political Science, Toulouse, 2007.

Paul van der Grip. Manifestations of Mana: Political power and divine inspiration in Polynesia. LIT Verlag Munster 2014.

Peter Hempenstall & Noel Rutherford,  Protest and Dissent in the Colonial Pacific, USP, 1984.

Notorious Aussie bikie gang boss being deported to Tonga

By
Kaniva Staff
-

A Tongan bikie boss in Melbourne, Australia is set to be kicked out of the country and deported to Tonga leaving his 11 children behind.

Sedeli Huakau Taualii, 44,  who has been linked to the Hells Angels, Rebels and Bandidos has been banished from Australia after a court rejected his bid to stay.

The Australian government and law enforcement consider the Rebels to be a criminal organisation although the club claims to be a group of motorcycle enthusiasts rather than gangsters. The United States Department of Justice considers the Hells Angels to be an organized crime syndicate

Taualii arrived in Australia from Tonga as a 20-month-old in 1976 but that has not enough to save him from deportation back to the Pacific nation, the country’s media reported.

Taualii was president of the Rebels’ Sunshine chapter in 2006 but left after a dispute with the outlaw motorcycle gang’s national president, his appeal to the Federal Court’s Full Court was told, the Biker-News reported.

He then became president of the Bandido’s Sunshine chapter and later saddled up with the Hells Angels, quitting them in 2014.

But Taualii – in fighting Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton’s ruling – refuted any claim he had tried to join the Comanchero outfit during a subsequent spell in prison.

Mr Dutton’s office ruled he did not pass a character test after serving six years in prison for armed robbery, cancelling his visa in 2016.

Taualii argued his staying in Australia would be in the interests of his children, that he has lived there since being an infant and had contributed to Australia through his employment.

Tauali’i’s legal team submitted the original ruling failed to find that the minister did not give proper consideration to the prospect he may suffer hardship from his health conditions if sent back to Tonga.

His appeal was dismissed.

Indonesian trolls target Tongan beauty Diamond Langi over Papuan solidarity

By
Kaniva Staff
-

By Sri Krishnamurthi, contributing editor of Pacific Media Watch . This article is republished with permission under Kaniva News partnerships with Pacific Media Watch.

Miss Universe NZ 2019 beauty queen Diamond Langi is being trolled by thousands of Indonesians on social media for speaking up about discrimination against West Papuans.

“The post I had made was #FreeWestPapua with a video showcasing the discrimination West Papuans have had to endure for years,” she declared on Coconet TV’s Facebook and Instagram pages two days ago.

READ MORE: 

On her “Women of the Islands – Diamond Langi” webpage on the Coconet TV website, the Auckland-born Tongan beauty queen is quoted as saying:

“I shared it because I wanted to bring awareness with what was happening with West Papuans, especially now with the Black Lives Matter movement.

“I had kindly asked Miss Indonesia (Frederika Alexis Cull), who I had met last year in America while competing at Miss Universe, to speak to the president of her country [Joko Widodo] to free the seven activists who were found guilty of treason for protesting against racism. 

She says that from that one post she has been hounded by Indonesian trolls who still exist on her Facebook page.

While there was support for her stance, some of the abuse from some Indonesians bordered on plain hatred, whereas others claimed the Melanesian region of West Papua belonged to Indonesia [it was annexed by Jakarta in in 1969 in a disputed colonisation process that has resulted in armed struggle and peaceful resistance ever since – Pacific Media Watch].

‘My Instagram was flooded’
“From that one post, my Instagram was flooded with abusive comments (at least 10,000 comments in a day) and they also started abusing my family, close friends, and even organisations that I work with,” she says on her Coconet TV webpage.

Diamond Langi comment
Some of Diamond Langi’s #FreeWestPapua solidarity comments. FB screenshot/PMC

“I was like, wow if this is happening to me just from making a post, imagine what is happening to the people of West Papua!

“I’ve had to deactivate some of my social media for a little bit but don’t worry I’ll be back,” she says.

But she also had support for her stance.

“Very concerning that our beautiful Pacific sister, Diamond Langi’s public Facebook page is under attack by a few propaganda-fuelled keyboard warriors from Indonesia, because she’s chosen to use her emerging platform and political freedom to stand in solidarity with our indigenous whanau in West Papua,” @Oceania Interrupted said on Facebook.

“Black Lives Matter all over the world, even in the Pacific – and bullying someone for standing in solidarity with indigenous people in our Pacific context, who continue to be brutally oppressed, exploited, silenced and killed in their own land is sickening!

“If you haven’t already, please go on her page, show some love for what she is standing in solidarity for; And if you know a thing or two about THE REAL WEST PAPUA [sic] situation, please school the ignorant bullies on her page and in our world,” the cultural activist group says.

Earlier this year, Langi acted in a Polish-American feature film titled, Sosefina. The film is written by Manu Tanielu and Namualii Tofa and directed by Hinano Tanielu.

The theme of Sosefina has been to tell the story of a marginalised and overlooked Polynesian community. The movie was released in the United States on 31 January 2020.

High school student jailed after Nuku‘alofa school brawl

By
Kaniva Staff
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A high school student has been sent to jail after he injured a student from Tonga College during a fight with students from Liahona High School.

Tavalea Tupou was convicted after causing grievous bodily harm to Wesly Vi on 16 February 2019.

Tupou, a former Tonga College student who was later “siding with Liahona boys in early 2019 to cause trouble against Tonga College boys” whilst he was attending Tonga College as a student at that time has pleaded not guilty to the charge.

He was sentenced to four years imprisonment commencing on June 16, but with the last 12 months of his sentence being suspended for two years upon the condition that he did not commit another offence punishable by imprisonment within the two years of suspension,  and that he was on Probation and you lived where the Probation directed.

He was also directed by Judge Laki Niu to undertake and complete satisfactorily a life skills course with the Salvation Army.

Judge Niu expressed his “greatest concern” about the prisoner saying Tupou’s head tutor said that in 2019 “you were identified to be very much involved in attacking and starting up school fights against Tonga College students around the areas of Pea and Ha’ateiho after school hours.”

The Supreme Court was told that Tupou stabbed Vi in his head, the blow penetrated his skull.

The injured student spent two weeks in hospital during which time the wound was drained and the scalp stitched together. He was then discharged and told he had to take care of his health for two years so the hole in his skull would close up.

However, a year later the injured student said he could still feel the hole in his skull . He said that he could still feel his head throbbing when he ran or exercised, and that if he rubbed the spot on his head where the hole was, he could hear it in his ears like the rubbing of a microphone with one’s finger.

The court was told that the accused would not give evidence and would not call any witness.

Counsel for the defence argued that eyewitness testimony only established that the Liahona student chose to be involved in the fighting and was injured when he collided with the accused.

He said it did not prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused wilfully and without lawful justification stabbed the complainant in the head with a sharp object.

The Tonga College student said he was standing with the witness and another friend under the south mango tree on Digicel Square at the north-eastern corner of Wellington Road and Taufa’ahau Road when the fight broke out on the road between Narottam store and the Chinese restaurant on Wellington Road.

He said that he saw Tonga College boys in the fight and he ran to where the vehicle he had come on was parked. As he ran between those vehicles, the accused was coming from the east side and they crashed into each other. When they parted from each other, he felt blood spurting from his head and flowing down his face. He said he fell down and another boy led him away to the market from where the police took him to hospital,

While he was at the hospital,  the accused also arrived at the hospital to treat a cut which he had sustained to his hand. He said that he told the police the accused was the one who had injured him.

The police then arrested the accused and asked him what he had done to him. He said the accused did not speak, just held up his hand above his head and moved it from the back to the front and then downwards in a stabbing manner. He said that the accused was also mumbling something unintelligible. He said that the police then took the accused away.

He said that he was still wearing the cap and that it had a hole in it where the injury to his head was. The police took the cap with them as evidence.

Two out of three accused go free over charges that soldiers fractured man’s jaw in bus fight

By
Kaniva Staff
-

The Supreme Court has handed down a conviction over a fight  in which a man’s jaw was fractured.

Paea He Lotu Sika, ‘Apolosi Vea and ‘Alungamonu Maka  appeared on charges that on November 4, 2018, at Vaini they repeatedly kicked and punched Hopoate Teisina and fractured his jaw.

On that date two busloads were returning from Nukualofa to Taliai Miiitary Camp after attending a flag raising ceremony to commemorate Tupou I day.

When the two buses reached Vaini, in front of Beulah College, Teisina and another male tried to stop the Army buses. They punched the vehicles and threw bottles at them.

Officer Pita Tapa, who was driving the first bus, told the court he asked Teisina to get out of the way. He said that he had told Sika, Maka and Vea to move Teisina out of the way.

He said soldiers from the other bus had got hold of Teisina, who was on the ground. He said he called the accused to come back. Tapa said he did not see anybody kick or punch Teisina.

However, under examination he said his earlier statement to police that he had seen the three defendants  beating Teisina was true. The men returned to the bus, but then got off again and Tapa said saw Sika punch Teisina, who fell to the ground.

Teisina told the court he and his friend had drunk two bottles of vodka in the early morning. He admitted to being drunk. He said that the soldiers had got off the bus and beat up his friend.

He ran away and they started punching him and he fell to the ground. He said he lost consciousness and woke up in hospital with a broken jaw.

The court was told Teisina had got hold of  a rake and used it to attack the soldiers.

Sika said he, Maka and Vea got off the bus and punched Teisina. Sika said he later kicked  Teisina in the head, face and mouth.

None of the accused gave evidence in court.

In his summary of the case, Judge Cato said he was not convinced of the validity of Maka and Vea’s evidence and gave weight to evidence that Teisina was armed with a rake and that there was an element of self defence involved.

“I cannot exclude the possibility that when the soldiers caught up with Hopoate, Hopoate turned to confront them with the rake and Maka punched and kicked Hopoate in the honest belief that he and the others were in imminent danger of being assaulted by Hopoate with the rake he was carrying,” the judge said.

“Hopoate was inflamed by alcohol, in an angry and dangerous mood and he was seen to have acted irrationally already in willfully breaking a bottle, striking the bus and had punched Sika in the first incident.”

Maka and Vea were therefore found not guilty.

However, the judge said the medical evidence was that Teisina’s injuries were consistent with blunt object applied with force to the face.

He said it was beyond reasonable doubt that the injuries were caused by Sika kicking  him in the face and mouth.

“He caused serious bodily harm to Hopoate without legal justification,” the judge said.

“I find him guilty of the offence and convict him accordingly.”

 

“This father’s day is different”: Tu‘akalau loses battle against Covid-19 in Salt Lake City

By
Kalino Latu
-

A Tongan Father in the United States, Lelea Ki Vailahi Tu’akalau was diagnosed with the incurable Covid-19 and lost his battle on Monday.

Her wife Lotomo’ua has confirmed his death to Kaniva News.

Yesterday it was Father’s Day in the United States and Lotomo’ua took to Facebook to share what she has described as what Lelea normally did, placing a batch of flowers on his father’s grave.

She said she took flowers and placing them for Lelea while he was in hospital.

“This father’s day is different,” she wrote.

“Lelea Ki Vailahi we miss you so much today.”

READ MORE:

“We love you so much keep fighting.”

Lelea’s death comes after he was put on ventilator to help him breathe at the hospital’s intensive care unit.

Lotomo’ua and their two daughters have also contracted Covid-19 but they have recovered after being under self-isolation at home.

International media reports said study showed that almost one in three deaths from Covid-19 among people in hospital in England during the pandemic have been associated with diabetes.

Outrage at attempt to sell herbal supplement at vastly inflated price; claims made about  remedy not tested by US medical regulator

By
Philip Cass
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A Korean herbal dietary supplement at the centre of a row over an attempt to sell it for nearly 10 times its normal price has not been tested by the US Food and Drug administration.

And researchers have warned that any benefits attributed to such alternative treatments may be all in the mind.

A box of a Korean dietary supplement, Hemohim, which is available for about US$91 from Amazon, plus US$17 shipping to New Zealand, has been offered on Facebook for $TP2000, the equivalent of US$875.

The seller, who calls herself ‘Helen,’ claimed it cost her a lot to order the herbal supplement.

Her attempts have caused outrage, with one commentator comparing her efforts to somebody who trying to raise money to buy an aeroplane.

Hemohim is popular with the Tongan community after it was promoted as being able to cure cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes and gout.

However, buried at the bottom of the Amazon page for Hemohim  is this disclaimer: “Statements regarding dietary supplements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or health condition.”

In other words, the United States department which evaluates and regulates medicine, says it has no proof that Hemohim can do anything that is claimed for it.

No proof

And that’s because in the United states, as long as you call your product a dietary supplement rather than a medicine, you can say pretty much what you like about it.

As American medical researcher Stephen Bents said, herbal concoctions like Hemohim  are classified as dietary supplements.

“Manufacturers can therefore produce, sell, and market herbs without first demonstrating safety and efficacy, as is required for pharmaceutical drugs,” Bent said.

“Although herbs are often perceived as ‘natural’ and therefore safe, many different side effects have been reported owing to active ingredients, contaminants, or interactions with drugs.

“Unfortunately, there is limited scientific evidence to establish the safety and efficacy of most herbal products.”

Warning

A New Zealand medical consumer guide warns that in many cases any benefits derived from alternative therapies such as herbal remedies are the result of wishful thinking.

Health Navigator New Zealand said many people thought they were cured because of the placebo effect.

“The placebo effect is a remarkable phenomenon in which a placebo – a fake treatment such a sugar or saline solution – leads to improvement in a person’s condition simply because the person has the expectation that it will be helpful,” pharmacist Sandra Ponen wrote.

“Likewise, when the belief in the value of an alternative therapy is strong, this can account for the success of a treatment even if scientifically it may not be accepted.“

People might get better due to the natural course of an illness and think this was be due to their alternative therapy.

Many illnesses are cyclical and people often sought alternative therapy when symptoms were at their worst. When symptoms improved, this was attributed to the therapy, Ponen wrote.

An alternative therapy might be tried after conventional medical treatment and when symptoms improved, this was attributed to the new therapy rather than the medical treatment.

If the original diagnosis is wrong, claims of a cure were meaningless.

The main points

  • A Korean herbal dietary supplement at the centre of a row over an attempt to sell it for nearly 10 times its normal price has not been tested by the US Food and Drug administration.
  • And researchers have warned that any benefits attributed to such alternative treatments may be all in the mind.

For more information

Complementary and alternative medicine

Herbal Medicine in the United States: Review of Efficacy, Safety, and Regulation

Hemohim Dietary Supplement

Retired police officer freed after case involving “tail end” of Chinese passport scandal

By
Philip Cass
-

The Supreme Court has found a woman not guilty of making a false declaration to obtain a passport.

Lord Chief Justice Whitten, presiding, said the case appeared to be at the tail end of the Chinese passport scandal.

Mrs. ‘Ileana Suliana Taulua, pleaded not guilty to five counts of making a false declaration for the purpose of obtaining a passport.

Taulua was employed by the Tonga Police Force from 1972 until 2005, firstly in the immigration division of the police and then in the ministerial wing at the police headquarters as second in charge of the special passport and naturalization unit where she had access to the issue of Tonga National Passports and Tonga Protected Persons

In early October 2012, one ‘Isapela Satua Tu’akoi asked her to complete an affidavit in support of a passport application for one Shawei Hu. The Accused agreed and completed an affidavit and handled it to Tu’akoi.

In January 2013, Tu’akoi again asked Taulua to complete affidavits in support of passport applications for Singkei Lou and Shanoi Kam.

In April 2013, Tu’akoi again asked the accused to complete an affidavit in support of a passport application for Orlandoni Wong.

That affidavit was sworn on 18 April 2014 and handed to

In August 2013, Tu’akoi again approached Taulua and asked her to complete an affidavit in support of a passport application for one Guang Chang Xiao.

In his summary of the case, Lord Chief Justice Whitten said all five applications were approved and the five applicants were issued Tongan passports in the names set out above.

The passport applications and supporting affidavits were sent to New Zealand to be examined by a handwriting expert. These included photocopies of what were purported to be previous passports, which the expert witness concluded had been faked.

However, he said that without specialised knowledge and equipment, a layperson would not be able to identify the photocopies as fraudulent.

In her evidence, Taulua said she had been approached by Tu’akoi from as early as 2010. She was approached at a time and in circumstances where she said she had been given a letter by the then CEO for Foreign Affairs, the late Ms Susana Faletau, the effect of which was requesting her to help confirm previous passports that had been issued during the time she was working in the division and which she had actually prepared.

The passports were submitted with their file to the police commander who checked the entitlement of the applicants for the Tongan passport. After that, each passport was signed by the then Minister of Police.

Taulua said each of the photocopies of previous passports was given to her by Tu’akoi. There was no evidence that she created any of the photocopies. There was no evidence that the Accused ever tampered with any parts of genuine passports or produced the fakes.

Taulua’s evidence that she did  not receive any payment from Tu’akoi for her help was not challenged.

Lord Chief Justice Whitten said that the fact that all applicants were Chinese was consistent with “an era within this country starting from a Royal prerogative to grant passports to non-Tongan nationals upon payment of considerable sums of money.”

“That era unfolded into one in which renewals of those passports has caused significant concerns. This case, like that of R v Lord Tu’ivakano, appears to be now be part of (and perhaps at the tail end) the investigations into those concerns.”

Taulua was acquitted on all charges.

 

Bloomfield Supreme Court ruling a reminder of previous extradition requests and pursuit of foreign criminals

By
Kalino Latu and Philip Cass
-

The Supreme Court ruling that the former Head of the Oceania Customs Organisation, Kulu Feinga ‘Anisi Bloomfield should be sent to Fiji is a reminder of the kingdom’s past experience of extraditions and its own attempts to have foreign suspects handed over.

As Kaniva News reported last week, the Fijian government asked Bloomfield be sent back to Fiji to be tried for the alleged offences which occurred between 2011 and 2014.

A warrant for his arrest was issued in the Magistrate’s Court of Fiji on March 27, 2018.

He was accused of using a credit card belonging to the organisation to make unauthorised purchases with intent to dishonestly obtain a sum of $161,506.66 from the OCO.

He was also charged with dishonestly obtaining computer equipment belonging to the Oceania Custom Organisation worth $17,757.77.

In his summing up Judge Niu told the Supreme Court: “I order that the accused is committed to be returned to Fiji to be tried on both the two offences of which he has been charged.”

READ MORE:

The Tu’i’onetoa government has endorsed a court order to hand over former Tongan Head of the Oceania Customs Organisation, Kulu Feinga ‘Anisi Bloomfield, to Fijian authorities.

Previous governments have not always responded positively to extradition requests.

Kaniva News has been told by sources in the previous government that an extradition request had been sent from Fiji to the Late ‘Akilisi Pohiva government, which did not take it to court. After being elected in 2017 Bloomfield became the CEO of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Our sources said the then Minister for Internal Affairs declined to work with Bloomfield after the late Hon. Pohiva raised the allegations against Bloomfield. Our source claimed the Pohiva government refused to approve the request without referring it to court.

A previous government refused Fiji’s request to return Lt Colonel Ratu Tevita Uluilakepa Mara, who was accused of plotting a coup. Lt Colonel Mara is a relative of King Tupou VI.

In May 2011, the Fiji Attorney General said an application for the extradition of Mara to Fiji had been sent to the kingdom’s authorities.

Mara is wanted on charges linked to plots to overthrow the then self-appointed military leader Voreqe Bainimarama.

Bainimarama accused Tongan authorities of conspiring to snatch Mara away from his country.

However, Tonga refused to extradite the Colonel, saying “the Laws of the Kingdom of Tonga do not permit His Majesty’s Government to comply with the aforementioned Extradition Request.”

Mara had been granted a Tongan passport and he is now under the protection of the king of Tonga.

Tonga has also faced problems when trying to bring foreigners accused of crimes to justice.

In 2017 the US State Department refused to return Dean Jay Fletcher who was wanted in connection with his wife’s murder.

Fletcher fled to American Samoa. He was jailed in Hawai’i for a year before a judge in Honolulu ruled that he could be extradited.

However, another judge then ordered Fletcher’s release after the US State Department said Fletcher would have faced a death sentence or life in prison and that he would not have received a defence attorney for free.

In 1976 American Peace Corps volunteer Dennis Priven murdered Deborah Gardner. He was charged, but the jury found him criminally insane. The Peace Corps worked overtime to make the story go away and persuaded the Tongan government to let him be flown to the US where he was supposed to be put in a mental asylum.

However, as soon as he reached the US, Priven’s mental state miraculously improved and he could not be committed. The Peace Corps gave him a clean record and he disappeared for years until he was tracked down by American journalist Philip Weiss.

Weiss said American officials lied to the King and Privy Council to free a vicious murderer.

The main points

  • The Supreme Court ruling that the former Head of the Oceania Customs Organisation, Kulu Feinga ‘Anisi Bloomfield should be sent to Fiji has raised questions about the kingdom’s experience of extraditions.
  • As Kaniva News reported last week, the Fijian government asked Bloomfield be sent back to Fiji to be tried for the alleged offences which occurred between 2011 and 2014.
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