Newspaper Publisher Calls For 'Fight For Justice'

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BANNED NEWSPAPER PUBLISHER CALLS FOR 'FIGHT FOR JUSTICE'

By David Robie, co-convenor of Pacific Media Watch

AUCKLAND (Pacific Media Watch): The publisher of the banned Taimi 'o Tonga newspaper, Kalafi Moala, tonight told a packed New Zealand audience that Pacific people should join a wider struggle for free speech and against oppression.

Dismissing his fight to save the banned Auckland-based Taimi - declared a prohibited import by Tongan authorities last month - as solely about the fate of his 14-year-old newspaper, Moala said wider issues were at stake.

He told the audience at the "Pollywood Shorts" screening of productions by Pacific film-makers that free speech was vital for Tonga and the rest of the Pacific.

"The larger issue in Tonga is about freedom of speech and freedom of expression," he said.

"I remember [Samoan author and literature professor] Albert Wendt made a statement in one of his forums here in Auckland when he said that one of the worst things that can happen to a people is when they embrace oppression as a right.

"Unfortunately, this is what has happened to Tonga. Those who we have revered in Tonga really believe in oppression and that it is their right to dish it out.

"And those of us who have been oppressed for so many years and throughout generations have grown up believing that's alright. It is their right to oppress us."

Moala drew an analogy with the victim of a wife beater who, when the police are called, joins her attacker in turning on the police because she believes that she has done something wrong.

"This attitude needs to change, not only in Tonga but in many of our Pacific communities," he said.

"This is the fight that we are asking you to join us in doing. It's not a fight for Taimi 'o Tonga alone. Taimi 'o Tonga could close down tomorrow.

"But this is a battle for freedom. It is a battle for justice. It is a battle for equity in our friendly islands.

Moala also pointed to the ongoing political crises in Fiji, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands and Pacific regional environmental problems as issues needing free speech.

He said he and his staff had been harassed for 14 years since the biweekly paper first began publication, police had raided the Nuku'alofa offices 12 times, and staff had been frequently threatened.

Also, Moala, his deputy editor Filokalafi 'Akauola and pro-democracy MP 'Akilisi Pohiva had been jailed in 1996 for publishing material "Parliament did not want exposed".

But they had been freed after 26 days by a Supreme Court ruling that they had been illegally jailed in breach of the constitution.

Moala said Taimi 'o Tonga had now been banned three times in less than three weeks.

First, Taimi was banned as a "foreign" newspaper by the Comptroller of Customs on February 26. Then the Tongan government banned it for alleged "sedition", claiming that it was trying to topple the government.

Finally, on March 10, during an appeal hearing, the kingdom's Privy Council banned the paper outright as a prohibited document. The Privy Council is the highest branch of the monarchy's executive.

A hearing of a bid for an interim injunction sought by Moala's Lali Media Group against the ban goes before the Supreme Court on Monday and the main appeal hearing is due on March 24.

Kalafi Moala bitterly attacked the Tongan declaration of his Tongan-language newspaper as "foreign", based on the fact that the Auckland-based publisher had a US passport.

"If you were a Samoan living in New Zealand and you now have a New Zealand passport but somebody said you were not a Samoan, it would offend you wouldn't it?" Moala asked.

"So I quickly responded to the Tongan authorities that I am Tongan. Tongan is my first language. My father and mother are Tongan. My grandparents are Tongan.

"My ancestor is Tongan. We are Tongan. My blood and everything that flows through my veins is so Tongan you wouldn't believe it.

"So how dare they call me a foreigner."

During the evening, Pacific short film-makers Damon Fepuleai, Jason Taouma, Popo Lilo, Craig Fasi and Stan Wolfgramm also spoke after the screening of their short productions, including Dot's Death and Watermark.

The fund-raiser was organised by the New Zealand-based Pacific Islands Media Association (PIMA) and vice-chair Iulia Leilua said the organisation was committed to supporting film-makers and productions as well as news media workers.

+++niuswire

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