The communications manager in the prime minister’s office, ‘Ahongalu Fusimalohi, speaking from Neiafu on the island of Vava’u confirmed that the prime minister’s office in Nuku’alofa had received the documents from Suva.
“Yes, I can confirm that we have received the extradition papers from the Fiji Attorney General’s Office. The prime minister is here in Vava’u and he will be briefed on what steps we will need to take,” Fusimalohi told the Fiji Sun newspaper.
“Our stand was made clear by the prime minister in his statement issued on Monday and we will move on from here.”
Lord Tu’ivakano said Monday that his government will not stop the extradition process and that his government did not have any say in King George V’s decisions.
Ratu Tevita a former commander of the Third Battalion, Fiji Infantry Regiment, is believed to be staying at Consular House on Vuna Road on the Nuku’alofa waterfront, as a guest of his kinsman, King George Tupou V.
Tonga’s chief secretary, Busby Kautoke, said Ratu Tevita Mara’s status in Tonga remains to be “a man rescued at sea.”
Under Tonga’s Extradition Act 1988 Fiji is one of the designated countries that an individual could be extradited back to, and the Act clearly sets out the procedure of how an individual could be extradited to a designated country.
Busby said an extradition process can be authorized only by the Tongan prime minister, Lord Tu’ivakano.
Tonga’s Minister of Public Enterprises and Revenue Clive Edwards said Fiji will have to show there is a case to answer and that Ratu Tevita would receive fair treatment.
Edwards, a prominent lawyer, said if the attempt to have him extradited fails, there was no reason Ratu Tevita could not stay in Tonga if he wanted to.
