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Edwards wins court  appeal – way open for damages claim against Prime Minister

By
Philip Cass
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The Supreme Court has overturned a 2012 ruling by a magistrate’s court which found Kele’a newspaper did not defame prominent lawyer and former government minister Clive Edwards.

The ruling by Lord Chief Justice Paulsen opens the way for Edwards to apply for a hearing regarding damages against the newspaper and the three defendants – one of whom is Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva.

Mr Edwards brought an action in the Magistrate’s Court in 2012 for damages alleging that he had been defamed by the respondents in an article published in the Kele’a newspaper on January 9 that year.

The article was published under a headline that read: ‘The Minister of Justice has become a hiding place for some law breakers.’

“The sting of the article was that Mr Edwards was unfit to hold office as a Minister  because he sheltered criminals and was a law breaker himself,’ Mr Justice Paulsen said.

In his action Edwards named Kele’a’s publisher, Laucala Pōhiva Tapueluelu, the newspaper’s editor, Māteni Tapueluielu, and the newspaper’s founder and author of the article, ‘Akilisi Pōhiva.

In a ruling of 29 May that year, the Magistrate dismissed the claim. The Magistrate held that Mr Edwards was not defamed and that the respondents,  had a defence to the claim of qualified privilege under Section 10 of the Defamation Act.  Mr Edwards appeals from the Magistrate’s ruling.

In his summary of the case, Mr Justice Paulsen said the Magistrate had not considered all the factors in the case and was wrong to declare that Kele’a was protected by qualified privilege.

“The  circumstances  the  Magistrate  failed  to consider included the gravity of the allegations and the width of their intended dissemination, the acknowledged errors in the article, the number of the errors, that Mr Pōhiva and Mr Tapueluelu should have been aware of the errors, the lack of any reliable sources for the information published, the failure of the respondents to verify the information, the failure of the respondents to seek any comment from Mr Edwards, the lack of any balance in the article and the fact that having had the  errors drawn  to their  attention  the respondents did not acknowledge them nor did they retract any of the defamatory imputations,” the Lord Chief Justice said.

“Had the Magistrate had regard to these matters he could only have found, in my view, that the respondents were indifferent to the truth of the allegations against Mr Edwards.

“They were therefore acting out of an improper motive in publishing the article and the defence of qualified privilege should have been rejected.”

Mr Justice Paulsen provided evidence that Hon Pōhiva had admitted during cross examination that the article was full of errors.

He said it was desirable that in an emerging democracy the news media be able to freely communicate with the public on matters of government and politics, including matters relating to the conduct of individuals holding or seeking election to positions in Government.

“But society has no interest in receiving untruthful and defamatory information and will not be well served by a news  media that is driven primarily by commercial considerations, particular political agendas or that is indifferent to truth,” the judge said.

“It is the case that in Tonga some news  and  social  media  outlets  are plainly aligned to particular politicians or political agendas. Some  news  and social media outlets have clear political perspectives and have been known to misreport official proceedings, dress up supposition as fact and make or attack people holding different perspectives.”

Emotional farewell from FISA staff for Niutoni Langilangi

By
Kalino Latu
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The Friendly Island Shipping Agency (FISA) staff stood silently, sang, cried and farewelled one of their own whose body was recovered from the sea in Vava’u on Sunday.

Niutoni Langilangi, 48, was given a special emotional sendoff this morning at Queen Sālote  wharf near FISA’s office in which he worked as chief engineer for the company.

His casket, which was draped with ngatu and kie, was put in a trailer before it was brought under a marquee erected at the wharf for the staff to pay their last respect to their colleague.

As Kaniva News reported Langilangi’s body was recovered from the sea after he disappeared on Sunday morning.

Police said they were investigating. The circumstances surrounding his death were still unknown.

Unconfirmed reports said Langilangi’s last moment of movements before he disappeared was caught on the MV Tongiaki’s CCTV.

One report said Langilangi was with the crew in the vessel at Neiafu’s Puatalefusi harbour before he disappeared.

Search and rescue teams spent the weekend hunting for him before locating his body towards seas near Talau.

Langilangi is survived by his wife Telēsia and their only one child.

All Black Vaea Fifita’s young son injured in Airport conveyor belt incident

By
Kaniva Staff
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All Black Vaea Fifita’s 1-year-old son, Paula, was injured in an incident at Auckland International Airport on Thursday.

Paula, was carried by a conveyor belt at check-in into Auckland Airport’s luggage handling system at 3pm before security discovered him.

Fifita on Friday thanked airport staff and emergency services for their support.

“He had an operation on his arm and is doing okay,” Fairfax media reports.

Paula was earlier said to be 2 years old, but will turn 2 this month, according to a tweet from the All Blacks.

The incident left him injured and he was in a stable condition in hospital early Friday morning, according to a spokeswoman for Auckland Airport.

Last weekend Fifita posted on Facebook that he was enjoying time with his two boys before they left New Zealand for Tonga this week.

Fifita was named as a reserve for the All Blacks match against France on Saturday night at Eden Park and a spokesperson for the All Blacks confirmed on Friday afternoon that he would take his place in the team on Saturday.

Two investigations have been launched into the incident, one on behalf of Aviation Security (Avsec) and another by Auckland Airport, a spokeswoman for Auckland Airport said.

The incident was at a normal check-in counter and did not involve an automated bag drop, the spokeswoman said.

Qantas and Air New Zealand said their airlines were not involved in the incident according to spokespeople from both airlines.

Fifita, 25, was born in Tonga and moved to New Zealand to take up a rugby scholarship at Tamaki College.

He was named as an All Black in 2017 for the British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand and played his first test in September against Argentina after which coach Steve Hansen said Fifita was “probably one of the best athletes” he had anything to do with.

No-show witness puts end to incest case

By
Kalino Latu
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A father and his daughter accused of having sexual relationship were acquitted of both counts because the Crown’s only key witness failed to appear at the Nuku’alofa Supreme court.

The father and his daughter were charged with two counts of incest by a female person contrary to section 33 of the Criminal Offences Act.

They had been also accused of committing domestic violence contrary to section 132(1) of the Criminal Offences Act and Domestic

The witness was another daughter of the man.

The court was told the witness launched a complaint with Police after she allegedly saw the couple committing incest.

However, the witness did not comply with her subpoena and was unavailable to give evidence.

Justice Charles Cato said: “I gained the impression that her non-attendance had been foreseen as a possibility before the trial.”

It said because that was the only evidence against the male accused, the Crown offered no evidence and the father was acquitted and discharged on both counts.

The Crown indicated, however, that it had sufficient evidence to proceed against the female accused and so the trial continued against her.

“It became apparent to me when the Crown opened its case that it depended entirely on two statements made by the female accused which were in statement form and not made under caution as required by section 148 of the Police Act if the police officer had sufficient evidence to charge the person at the time questioning commenced,” Justice Cato said.

However, the female accused’s lawyer, Sifa Tū’utafaiva objected to the admissibility of both statements.

Mr Cato said the accused should have been cautioned before making either of her two witness statements.

He said it was only after the accused had declined to agree to be a witness against her father that it appears Police focused on her as a suspect and cautioned her.

“She then responded by denying allegations of incest.

“In these circumstances, I upheld Mr Tu’utafaiva’s objection and ruled the statements inadmissible, the consequence of which meant that there was no evidence against the accused sufficient to support the charges and she was acquitted,” Mr Cato said.

The prosecutor did not seek a  court order at the beginning of the trial to compel the eye witness to come to court and give evidence.

Mr Cato said: “ In any event, I would have been unlikely to have issued a warrant, in the absence of any other evidence against the male accused.  To have issued a warrant for the witness to attend would have meant an indefinite delay in the closure of the case. In any event, even if located and brought to court, it would be problematic whether she would give evidence against her father and the prosecution were aware of this fact.

“I was asked later, after it had become likely that the two statements would not be admitted, for a bench warrant to compel the witness to attend but I declined to do so for the same reasons. There was as in the case of her father no evidence before the Court after the statements had been ruled inadmissible that justified holding her longer, and in my view, it would have been similarly unfair to her to have done so.

“I was informed that there were two other family witnesses who had also not answered subpoenas, for whom the prosecution also sought warrants, but this only compounded uncertainty in the resolution of the case.

For the same reasons, I declined warrants for them to be compelled to attend.”

Tongan army officers get construction training from NZDF

By
Kaniva Staff
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Twelve Tongan soldiers have participated in a recent two-week training programme conducted by engineers from the New Zealand Defence Force.

The construction planning and project management training was part of a mutual assistance programme between the two militaries.

The training was conducted at His Majesty’s Armed Forces (HMAF) Naval Base at Nuku’alofa.

It came on the heels of a month-long multilateral humanitarian assistance and disaster relief capacity-building exercise in Vanuatu, called Exercise Tropic Twilight, which involved NZDF engineers working alongside personnel from the Vanuatu Mobile Force and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.

Lieutenant Cam Gurney, from the New Zealand Army’s 2nd Engineer Regiment (2ER), who led the five-member NZDF contingent, said the training aimed to enhance the skills of HMAF (Tonga) construction personnel.

“These skills will help their junior leaders in planning, running and managing a range of construction projects, including buildings and roads,” Lieutenant Gurney said.

“We are pleased to have the opportunity to work closely with Tongan soldiers and deepen the defence cooperation between our two militaries.”

Lieutenant Colonel Terry McDonald, the Commanding Officer of 2ER, said NZDF engineers were trusted by partner militaries for their skills and professionalism, and were deployed regularly to lead construction projects in Antarctica, the Middle East and the South West Pacific.

“Every sapper is a professional in their trade. Activities like the training we’ve recently delivered in Tonga and the capacity-building exercise in Vanuatu demonstrate this,” Lieutenant Colonel McDonald said.

During Exercise Tropic Twilight, which ended in late May, a joint team of engineers from New Zealand, Vanuatu and China helped build two medical staff houses and an aid post. The activity was funded in part by New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Mt Eden crash will affect Auckland’s western train timetable

By
Kaniva Staff
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Train services on the Western line have been stopped after a truck crashed into powerlines in the Auckland suburb of Mt Eden.

Police are currently at the scene at the intersection of Boston Road and Normanby Road.

This is going to affect train services and these have been stopped until further notice.

There will be disruption to traffic in the area as we have closed the road while contractors clean up the powerlines.

There are no reported injuries.

NZ Immigration draws Tongan applicants’ Pacific ballots

By
Kaniva Staff
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The New Zealand Pacific Access Category quotas will be drawn by ballot today.

A total of 650 places are available under the Pacific Access Category for nationals from Tonga (250), Fiji (250), Tuvalu (75) and Kiribati (75).

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) Assistant General Manager Jeannie Melville said around 11,000 registrations were received this year under the Pacific Access Category quotas.

The PAC quota ballot results will be announced on 15 June 2018.

Those who are successful in being drawn from the ballot will be contacted directly by INZ about how and by when they are required to complete and lodge their formal residence visa applications.

There are another 1,100 places available under the Samoan Quota for Samoan nationals. This year the Samoan Quota ballot will be drawn on 29 June and results will be announced on 6 July.

For further media information contact +64 (0) 274 422 141 or email media@mbie.govt.nz

Growing tree branches near runway cancel ‘Eua flight service, says CEO

By
Kalino Latu
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Tree branches growing near the runway at ‘Eua’s Kaufana domestic airport have caused Real Tonga to cancel flights.

The airline’s CEO, Tēvita Palu, said there had been no flights to ‘Eua for  five weeks.

Palu said he made the decision to cancel the services because he feared the trees could cause an accident to aircraft when they landed.

He said he had met with the Minister of Civil Aviation, Hon Sēmisi Sika, and was told the Ministry would cut down the branches, but nothing had been done yet.

Hon Sika has been contacted for comment.

‘Eua is not the only airport where Real Tonga faces problems.

At Ha’apai airport, rolling stones on the runway have caused a lot of damage to the airlines’ aircraft over the past six years.

Palu said he had repeatedly met with the airport’s authorities and had been told they would work on it, but until now nothing had been done.

Palu said replacement parts for aircraft were extremely expensive and when they were damaged it cost his company great losses.

He said he feared that when the Free Wesleyan Church upcoming conference began in Ha’apai his aircraft would not be able to service the islands.

Palu said the issue with the ‘Eua airport was easy to resolve and he did not know why the authorities did not do it.

He said the problem not only caused the service to be cancelled, but also cost his pilots and staff because they had no income for that period.

Another problem was that the company had already purchased their fuel from an overseas company.

The fuel for the aircraft had an expiry date, which meant when the ‘Eua services will return the fuel was expired and they have to buy another fuel.

Real Tonga operates five aircraft on its domestic services.

It will begin its first regional services between Apia, Samoa and Tongatapu through Vava’u International Airport on June 29.

Murder charge after Tongan death in Hawai‘i

By
Kaniva Staff
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A man is facing second-degree murder charge in relation to the death of a Tongan man in Hawai’i.

46-year-old Sione Telua Koloi died in Lanai Community Hospital on May 11 as a result of his injuries. His body was laid to rest on June 2.

Travis Morita, 35, was charged with murder following an autopsy of Koloi. Morita was being held at the Wailuku Police Station.

Police recently increased Morita’s charge from manslaughter to second-degree murder after evidences suggested he repeatedly punched Koloi in the face before he died of his injuries, Assistant Chief John Jakubczak was quoted by The Maui News as saying.

The incident occurred at 10:37 p.m. Friday when police responded to a report of a man injured during a fight at the intersection of Fraser Avenue and Kaumalapau Highway in Lanai City, Jakubczak said.

Police found Koloi lying on the ground on his right side with injuries to his head and face, with his girlfriend Kendra-Leah Sabin by his side.

Sabin remembered Koloi as a loving father, coach and friend. She said he worked as a journeyman finish carpenter for the past eight years on Lanai and in Lahaina.

The couple were in the process of breaking down their old home and planning to rebuild, Sabin said. They also were planning to look after their daughter’s child to help her finish college in two more years.

“We had so much plans,” she said.

Born and raised in American Samoa, Koloi moved to Maui in 1990. Four years later, he moved to Lanai and eventually met Sabin in 1996.

“He was very involved with the community,” Sabin said. “A lot of people loved him here and in Lahaina.”

Sabin said Koloi helped coach Pop Warner football and Menehune basketball teams in both Lanai and Lahaina. She said he was part of the crew working on renovations of the Lodge at Koele resort and helped build Lanai’s movie theater.

“All his bosses and co-workers had nothing but good things to say about him,”Sabin said. “Every day he comes to work smiling and happy. Even the cooks said when he comes by to pick up lunch, he’s always offering to help.”

Tongan relatives paid tributes to Koloi on social media.

Gov’t hands out thousands of chicks four month after devastating TC Gita

By
Kaniva Staff
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The government is delivering thousands of free chicks to communities across Tonga to help provide them with enough meat.

This was part of a food assistance project initiated to help locals while the nation is still recovering after Cyclone Gita hit it in February.

MAFF’s  Livestock Division handed out 1,890 baby chicks last week with those who joined the programme receiving 10 chicks each.

The receivers were trained to make sure they knew how to raise the chicken before they could be turned into meat products.

The Ministry intended to give out 40,000 baby chicks by the end of this year.

As Kaniva news reported, the Cabinet had allocated TP$21.4 for the Cyclone sub-committee to help the recovery process, and part of that money would be spent on food.

Last year the government handed out thousands of baby ducks and chickens to villagers to encourage them to cut down on fatty imported meat.

In 2016 the government imposed new import tax on fatty meat as part of its health campaign to encourage people to eat local food and meat products.

Tonga currently spends around $40 million pa’anga a year on imported meats which it wanted to see reduced.

A third of the Tongan population now has type 2 diabetes and the country’s life expectancy for both men and women has fallen in recent years.

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