NUKU'ALOFA (Radio New Zealand International / 3 News / Pacific Media Watch / Matangi Tonga Online): The Tongan Supreme Court has banned news media from covering a legal submission by lawyers for five policemen accused of killing a New Zealand police officer.
Matangi Tonga Online reported today that Tongan Supreme Court Justice Charles Cato ruled to suppress the submission because a sixth person - a civilian - is also set to go on trial for the killing of Kali Fungavaka.
Tongan policemen Kelepi Hala'ufia and Constables Salesi Maile, Tevita Vakalahi, Manu Tu'ivai and Fatai Faletau are on trial for allegedly "repeatedly beating Fungavaka as they were taking him into custody over a minor intoxication incident in August 2012", 3 News reported earlier.
Fungavaka, a 38-year-old father of five based in New Zealand, was just visiting Tonga for his grandfather's funeral when he was reportedly assaulted inside police cells. He died a week later of serious head injuries.
It is not clear why Justice Cato has issued an order to the media suppressing the publication of these final legal submissions on the grounds that a second trial for the same crime is coming up, since the media has already been covering the trial all along.
The media has already covered evidence given in the court from witnesses who said they saw police punching and hitting Fungavaka after leading him out of a pub and later pushing Fungavaka's neck against a wall.
And Radio New Zealand International reported on pathologist Dr Fintan Garavan's evidence to the court that head injuries and neck injuries inflicted on Fungavaka caused his death:
"On the eighth day of trial into Kali Fungavaka's death, a pathologist Dr Fintan Garavan presented a power point showing multiple skull fractures, subdural haemorrhage and bruises to the interior of the brain in multiple areas, neck injuries including bone fracture and bruising inside, alongside multiple bruising and abrasions on other parts of his body showing blunt force trauma."
Journalists have also already covered evidence given at the trial by other prisoners in the police station that night, who saw one of the accused policemen holding "Kali Fungavaka in a chokehold and two other officers punching the victim, while another accused officer later stomped on his head".
There was no indication earlier that Justice Cato intended to suppress the media from covering the final submissions by the accused policemen's defence lawyers.
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Pacific Media Watch
