Source: Radio New Zealand
Tonga Police is investigating the incident on 23 April. Facebook / Tonga Police
A female journalist in Tonga has been threatened at gunpoint following the broadcast of a news story about an Australian criminal deportee serving a life sentence in Tonga for methamphetamine importation.
The incident, in which an unknown individual threatened the journalist at the Kele’a Publications office in Nuku’alofa 12 days ago (23 April), is under investigation by police.
Kele’a Publications manager Teisa Cokanasiga told RNZ Pacific that the man featured in the ABC’s Foreign Correspondent documentary had plans to set up a chapter of the Comanchero, an Australian outlaw motorcycle gang in Tonga.
Cokanasiga said the incident, which appears to be an attempt to silence the press, has shaken her small team.
“It is a big concern, and it is very worrying to me that this happened to us, to a journalist in our small organisation,” she said.
Cokanasiga said Kele’a Publications lacks resources, such as security cameras, that could assist with the police work and investigations into the incident.
She is calling on Tongans to help them if they have any information about the man.
Cokanasiga said gang-related activity is a big concern in Tonga, as it is in many other Pacific Island nations.
“People in the country are worried about drug trafficking and [the] growing influence of gang-related crimes, and it’s a huge concern.”
However, she said journalists should be allowed to do their job, as it is the media’s role to inform the public about public interest stories.
RNZ Pacific has contacted police for comment.
Media Association shocked
Meanwhile, the Media Association of Tonga (MAT) has expressed its “profound shock and deep concern”.
“The presence of a firearm in what is understood to be an act of intimidation represents a dangerous and unacceptable escalation against press freedom in the kingdom,” MAT said in a statement on Tuesday.
“MAT views this incident as a direct assault not only on the safety of an individual journalist but on the constitutional right of every Tongan to receive information without fear or favour.”
MAT president Katalina Uili Tohi said targeting of media personnel undermines democratic principles and silences the voices that hold power to account.
“The Media Association of Tonga is appalled by this brazen act of intimidation. Journalists must be able to carry out their work without the threat of violence or death.”
The association is calling on the Minister of Police and the police chief to launch an urgent, thorough, and transparent investigation to apprehend the perpetrator.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand