New Zealander awaiting trial under Tonga's newspaper law

By ANGELA GREGORY

New Zealand resident Alan Taione says he is being kept trapped in Tonga, where he faces charges over a banned newspaper.

Tongan-born Mr Taione was charged with distributing an unlicensed newspaper after arriving in Tonga a month ago.

He was carrying copies of Taimi 'o Tonga (Times of Tonga), which is printed in Auckland.

The newspaper, often critical of the Tongan royal family, has been refused a licence in Tonga.

Mr Taione appeared in the Tongan Magistrate's Court on Wednesday and was further remanded on bail until later this month so the police could prepare a case.

The matter would then be referred to the High Court for a hearing after a six-week stand-down, he said.

Mr Taione was frustrated because he needed to return to New Zealand, where he has a wife and young children, to earn money to pay for a lawyer to represent him.

"There is no employment here. I have to rely on family."

Mr Taione, a mechanic, understood he could be allowed back on a bond of about $8000 but he did not have the money.

He had given assurances he would return because he viewed the case, the first of its kind in Tonga, as important.

"They are just making excuses to keep me here ... they have my passport."

Mr Taione said he was seeking advice from the New Zealand High Commission in Tonga, which was interested in his plight given he had permanent residency and a New Zealand wife.

But on one positive note, Mr Taione said he had saved a Tongan girl hit by a car yesterday. He said he helped to clear her airway so she could breathe as she was rushed to hospital.

"Today was something to be grateful for, otherwise there would have been another funeral," he said.

Mr Taione had gone to Tonga for his father's funeral and a court appearance last week was delayed because it clashed with a royal funeral.

A New Zealand Foreign Affairs spokesman said his situation was being monitored.