Man to face trial for destruction of several Nuku'alofa buildings [1]
Tuesday, March 20, 2007 - 20:02. Updated on Thursday, May 1, 2014 - 14:33.
Police Magistrate Salesi Mafi today, March 20 ordered Talifolau Letisi (33) to appear at the Nuku'alofa Supreme Court for trial on charges relating to the destruction of key Government offices and business premises during the November 16 riot last year.
Talifolau was charged with four counts, the first count was for participating in a rioting meeting at Pangai Si'i that resulted in the destruction of the Molisi Tonga Supermarket, the Shoreline Power Head Office, and damage to the Prime Minister's Office, Parliament Office, the Treasury and others.
The second charge was that the accused participated with other rioters in the destruction of the Molisi Tonga Supermarket by smashing its windows and looting its goods, which eventually led to the supermarket being set on fire.
The third charge was for the damage to buildings including the Prime Minister's Office by throwing pieces of timber and smashing its glass windows. The fourth charge was also for the destruction of the Shoreline Head Office when he punched through the office glass windows, smashing it, in the lead up to the office being set on fire.
No Plea
The accused as directed by Police Magistrate Salesi Mafi will not have to enter a plea during the preliminary inquiry hearing, because this case is of the jurisdiction of the Nuku'alofa Supreme Court.
The case will be submitted to the Nuku'alofa Supreme Court on May 1 for an arraignment of a trial date
Police Prosecutor Mema Latu told the court that the prosecution had divided its case into two parts. Firstly, to prove that there was a meeting that was held on this particular day, November 16, 2006 with the intention of causing a riot and, secondly, that Government buildings and Shoreline properties were destroyed and damaged by rioters. He called five witnesses to give evidence.
Pangai Si'i
The first witness was Chief Inspector Tupou 'Otutaha who on November 16, was working in the Investigation Unit at the Nuku'alofa Police station and was assigned to the area around the Parliament Office to keep a close look out at a meeting that was held at Pangai Si'i.
Inspector 'Otutaha told the court that he clearly recollected, seeing the accused at the meeting at Pangai Si'i, he was wearing a red highlight vest and he was intoxicated. He said that about 3 pm a crowd of about 200 people including Talifolau, who was one of the people carrying the banners, moved from the meeting at Pangai Si'i and started throwing things at the Prime Minister's Office smashing its windows, at the same time trying to get through the office entrance.
"We tried to stop them but we just could not stop rioters who were still throwing things from the back, finally Semisi Tapueluelu turned up and said in a loudspeaker for everyone to return to Pangai Si'i because they had got what they wanted, so I followed the crowd back who then turned and started smashing windows at the Treasury, including government vehicles that were parked in the parking area.
"The rioting crowd continued their destruction to the Parliament Office where they broke the lock on the entrance gate and started smashing windows and vehicles there, but we managed to get some of them out. Nevertheless, part of the crowd had already moved to the Supreme and Magistrate's Courts across from Pangai Si'i and started smashing louvers and windows before moving to the Molisi Tonga Supermarket and smashed everything in sight and at the same time looting the supermarket."
Tupou said that the police intervened and managed to chase the rioters from the supermarket then they shouted for all to go to the Ramanlal Hotel. When he got there the hotel including the office equipment inside were already trashed and looted.
"After this, I heard shouting again for all to continue to Shoreline and I saw a crowd of 100 people running on foot to Shoreline while others went in vehicles but when I got to the Tonga Water Board, I saw smoke and knew straight away that Shoreline was on fire, and when I reached there, about 300 people gathered outside but the office was totally trashed. Computers and other office equipment were smashed and thrown onto Taufa'ahau Road, and a fire was already started inside."
Tupou said that after setting fire to the Shoreline Building the crowd returned to town, and about 5pm the Leiola Duty Free shop was also trashed and looted. Some of the crowd turned up at the Nuku'alofa Club and started smashing up the place while looting only the alcohol and beers, bringing them to Pangai Si'i and started drinking the stolen items while the meeting was still going on.
"We the police did not have the capacity to stop these large crowds from the destruction all we could do was to follow them and monitor closely what they were doing, and I noticed that these crowds of rioters were very angry with government and it showed by the way they spoke and the way they acted, and some even yelled out curses to the Prime Minister, " explained the Chief Inspector.
PM's Office smashed
The second witness called by the Prosecutor to the stand this morning was Paula Ma'u, the Deputy Secretary at the Prime Minister's office.
Paula told the court that on November 16, 2006, he was the Acting Secretary at the Prime Minister's Office and at 2pm that afternoon the Cabinet's Security Sub committee was meeting in the Cabinet room at the new glass building beside the old Prime Minister's Office.
He said that about 3pm they heard crashing coming from outside the building. He went out on to the verandah to see what was happening and he saw people standing outside their gate and people pouring onto the road throwing things at the building and smashing their windows. "There were lots of people outside, and the people I saw were those on the area across to the Post Office, which I estimated to number about 100," he said.
Paula also confirmed to the court that the damage to both the old PM's Office and the glass one beside it was carried out on November 16, by the crowd of people, and the damage had since been repaired at the old PM's Office building while repairs to the new building had not been completed.
Molisi Supermarket set on fire
The third witness to take the stand this morning was Sokopeti Lavemai a supervisor at the Molisi Tonga Supermarket.
Sokopeti told the court that on the afternoon of November 16, while working at the supermarket she heard that the Prime Minister's Office was trashed, so she and others at the supermarket ran outside to the verandah to try and get a glimpse of what was happening, but when they turned to go back inside rioters started to throw things and smashed the windows.
"We were all very scared so all of the workers ran to the back into our wholesale area to try and get out but the back door back was locked so our male employees broke it down and we all escaped outside to the 'Onetale Shop and just watched as people started looting the whole supermarket and 'Ainise Sevele arrived and told us to all try and return back to the safety of our homes," explained Sokopeti.
Sokopeti said that she and her two younger sisters, who also worked at Molisi, returned to a relative's home at the Church of Tonga residence across from Pikula and while they were there they saw smoke in the sky so they decided to return to town and see if it was Molisi on fire.
"When we got to town we saw, it was ANZ on fire so we moved and stood at the Talamahu Market across from the supermarket and just watched as the fire engines rushed to the site. At that time Molisi was not on fire. While we were standing there, I saw about four to six people walking from the Cowley Bakery direction to Molisi carrying big green plastic bottles filled with benzine.
"I clearly identified the accused as one of these men carrying the benzine bottles and they all entered with the bottles into the supermarket and I knew for sure it was benzine because as they were coming out the fire was coming up in the supermarket ".
The witness also told the court that she identified the accused as Talifolau well before 16/11, because he had a tyre shop at village of Malapo and she used to go there to get her car tires replaced.
The prosecution completed the hearing by calling two more witnesses, one was an employee from Shoreline and the other was a Police Inspector.
In a report of the accused's interview with the police that was read out in court, the accused was said by the police to have confessed that he committed these crimes and had also expressed that he was very sorry for what he had done.