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CPJ PROTESTS OVER TIMES OF TONGA BAN
www.cpj.org
NEW YORK (CPJ/Pacific Media Watch): The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists has protested to King Taufa'ahau
Tupou IV of Tonga over the ban on Taimi 'o Tonga as lawyers prepare to contest the prohibition order in court.
The CPJ has told the king that it is "very concerned" about the ban as "another attempt by your government to silence
the paper's critical reports".
Acting director Joel Simon appealed to King Tupou to lift the ban on the New Zealand-based Taimi 'o Tonga (Times of
Tonga) immediately and ensure that all journalists were able to report and publish free from government interference.
The letter, dated 4 March 2003, said: "The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is very concerned by your government's
importation ban on the Times of Tonga (Taimi 'o Tonga), an independent, biweekly newspaper published in New Zealand.
"On February 27, the Times of Tonga offices in Nuku'alofa, Tonga, and Auckland, New Zealand, received a letter signed by
the Tongan minister of finance stating that the paper is now "a prohibited import into the Kingdom of Tonga." The
government later issued a press release, posted on the official government Web site, declaring that the Times of Tonga
is a "foreign newspaper" that "has ruthlessly campaigned for the overthrow of Tonga's constitutional government."
Lawyers for the Times of Tonga plan to appeal the importation ban at a court hearing on March 6, according to an editor
at the paper.
The Times of Tonga publisher, Kalafi Moala, a native-born Tongan who is a naturalized citizen of the United States,
moved the paper's printing operation to New Zealand in 1995 for financial reasons. The main news office and advertising
sales offices remain in Tonga. Several Tongan publications are published in New Zealand and imported to the archipelago,
and a number of foreign-owned publications are regularly distributed in the country without interference.
The government has not clarified which specific articles in the Times of Tonga precipitated the ban. Editors at the
paper believe the crackdown could stem from a number of recent reports that have exposed corruption among government
officials and the royal family, including allegations that Your Majesty used personal funds to lease a jet from Royal
Brunei Airlines.
Throughout its 14-year publishing history, the Times of Tonga, the country's most popular newspaper, has been subject to
repeated government harassment. In March 2002, editor Mateni Tapueluelu was charged with sedition for writing an article
alleging that Your Majesty had invested private funds in overseas bank accounts. The charges against Tapueluelu, which
carry a maximum penalty of seven years in prison, were later dropped.
As a nonpartisan organisation of journalists dedicated to defending press freedom worldwide, CPJ fears that the
importation ban on the Times of Tonga is another attempt by your government to silence the paper's critical reports. We
respectfully remind Your Majesty that the Tongan Constitution guarantees press freedom. We call on you to lift the ban
on the Times of Tonga immediately, and for you to ensure that all journalists are able to report and publish free from
government interference."
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PACIFIC MEDIA WATCH ONLINE http://www.pmw.c2o.org
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