RSF protests over arrest of media activist
Title -- 4311 TONGA: RSF protests over arrest of media activist
Date -- 20 February 2004
Byline -- None
Origin -- Pacific Media Watch
Source -- Reporters Sans Frontieres, asie@rsf.org 19/2/04
Copyright -- RSF
Status -- Unabridged
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PRO-DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST ARRESTED FOR DISTRIBUTING BANNED NEWSPAPER
PARIS (RSF/Pacific Media Watch): Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières) today condemned the arrest of pro-democracy activist Alani Taione for distributing about 20 copies of the banned newspaper Taimi 'o Tonga after his arrival on 18 February 2004 in Tonga from New Zealand, where he is a resident.
The organisation called on Tonga's prime minister, Prince 'Ulukalala Lavaka Ata, to release Taione immediately and drop the charges against him.
"Taione's arrest is a regrettable new phase in the gagging the independent press that was ordered by King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV," RSF said.
A 38-year-old Tongan who has lived in New Zealand since 1987, Taione appeared before a judge today. He faces a possible prison sentence for importing and circulating a banned publication. Taimi 'o Tonga (which means Times of Tonga) is printed in New Zealand.
In open defiance of governmental censorship, Taione flourished a copy of the newspaper in front of customs officials when he arrived at Tongatapu airport and then handed out the other copies inside the airport. No one intervened at that moment but police arrested him a few hours later as he left his father's funeral, which was the primary reason for his visit.
The government banned Taimi 'o Tonga on 26 February 2003, accusing it of having a "political
agenda" and "unacceptable journalistic standards." It criticises the government and
often carries reports about alleged corruption by the king and his close associates. After a long battle with the supreme court, the king had the constitution amended so that he could ban it permanently.
The adoption of two new laws in 2003, the Newspaper Act and the Media Operators Act, has
enabled the government to restrict the number of licences for the privately-owned news media.
Since 31 January, the deadline for newspaper publishers to file their requests for a licence,
the government had only approved requests from government and church newspapers. New Zealand's foreign ministry has asked the government to reconsider its refusal to issue licences to at least three privately-owned publications.
PACIFIC MEDIA WATCH is an independent, non-profit, non-government organisation comprising journalists, lawyers, editors and other media workers, dedicated to examining issues of ethics, accountability, censorship, media freedom and media ownership in the Pacific region. Launched in October 1996, it has links with the Journalism Program at the University of the South Pacific, Bushfire Media based in Sydney, Journalism Studies at the University of PNG (UPNG), the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism (ACIJ), Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand, and Community Communications Online (c2o).
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