Publisher hopes judges will end newspaper ban

By REBECCA WALSH

The publisher of Tonga's only independent newspaper, which has been banned as a prohibited import, is cautiously optimistic a judicial review will allow the paper to be read again in his home country.

Kalafi Moala's newspaper, Taimi o Tonga (The Times of Tonga), was last week labelled a prohibited import on the grounds it was a foreign paper with a political agenda. The Government also claimed the standards of journalism were unacceptable.

"This is the latest and most serious action the Government has taken out against us," Moala, the paper's founding editor said.

"Because we are the only independent paper, on a number of occasions we have covered political stories, exposing corruption and criticising some of the practices and policies of government."

The 20,000-circulation Taimi o Tonga is written by journalists in Tonga, New Zealand, Australia and Honolulu, but printed in Auckland.

Moala, who is based in Auckland, said in the 14 years the paper had been running its offices had been raided more than 12 times by police, staff had received threatening calls from Government departments and the paper had been the subject of legal suits by Government officials.

In 1996 Moala was imprisoned for 26 days for contempt of Parliament but released when the High Court of Tonga ruled he had been wrongfully imprisoned.

Moala did not know what had specifically prompted the ban. A recent story revealed that while King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV had campaigned against smoking and promoted a healthy lifestyle for his people, last month he had approved the construction of a cigarette factory in Tonga.

"In Tonga, in our culture you don't criticise people in authority, especially people in the royal family and we did," Moala said.

"We have been writing these kinds of stories for years. I guess they feel enough is enough ... they want to control what people should read and should know. That's very unacceptable in a modern civilisation."

Tomorrow, lawyers for the newspaper will seek a judicial review in the High Court under the Tongan constitution, which promotes freedom of speech.

"I am optimistic yet guarded. It's not beyond Tonga to quickly come up with new laws to justify actions that had previously been illegal."

Moala said while he was saddened by the consequences of the ban for Taimi o Tonga, what saddened him more was that it was "another confirmation of the dictatorial and undemocratic rulership we have in Tonga".

"The Government is run by the elite for the elite, rather than a Government of the people for the people."

The two other newspapers on the island are Government and church- owned.

If the ban continued it was likely some staff in Tonga would be laid off and the office closed. But the paper would continue to be published and distributed in New Zealand, America and Australia, Moala said.