Five Tongan police officers are among those set to stand trial over the manslaughter of New Zealand constable Kali Fungavaka.
In Tonga today, a Supreme Court judge committed three police officers - Fatai Faletau, Tevita Vakalahi and Manu Tu'ivai - for trial. The trio had initially been discharged in a magistrate decision that ruled there was not enough evidence to charge them.
Following an appeal from the Crown however, they will now join two other officers and a civilian for trial on the manslaughter of Counties Manukau officer Mr Fungavaka.
The 38-year-old died last August while in Tonga for his grandfather's funeral.
He had earlier been taken into custody for a minor drunken incident and was allegedly beaten repeatedly, causing severe head injuries.
