NUKU’ALOFA (Pacnews) — The editor of the Taimi o Tonga newspaper denies that news media in Tonga are being persecuted because of their political stance.
Kalafi Moala was objecting to allegations of media persecution by the Tonga government in the Suva-based Islands Business magazine from its editor Laisa Taga.
In a recent editorial, Taga wrote about a government-driven crackdown on pro-democracy media in Tonga since last November’s riots in Nuku’alofa.
Three leading pro-democracy journalists have been arrested and charged with sedition since the riots.
But Moala said that Tonga’s media continues to operate freely in the aftermath of the riots, and that the notion of a crackdown was the type of misinformation that was becoming commonplace.
“I run a television program here weekly and I approached TV Tonga here to ask if they had a list of people that they do not want to be interviewed on the program and they said not at all,” Moala said.
“So I have made contact with (pro-democracy leader) Akilisi Pohiva to schedule him to be interviewed on Television Tonga and this is so against a lot of the allegations that I’ve heard.”
The editor of Tonga’s Kele’a newspaper said it is being targeted because it is critical of the government.
Tavake Fusimalohi and another senior journalist on his paper are among the three leading pro-democracy journalists who have been arrested and charged with sedition since the Nukualofa riots last November.
Fusimalohi was reacting to comments made by Taimi o Tonga newspaper, Kalafi Moala, denying that news media in Tonga are being persecuted because of their political stance.
But Fusimalohi, whose staffers were stopped earlier this year by police from working on a Sunday without a permit, felt there was a crack-down on pro-democracy media.
“That we were being targeted because since the riots, we are still the only outspoken paper against government. And we are quite critical of government and its policies. The other media organizations are not doing the same thing that we are doing.”