Jury finds Tongan Speaker guilty of bribery [1]
Wednesday, January 25, 2006 - 17:47. Updated on Wednesday, October 1, 2014 - 11:06.
A jury today has found Tonga's Speaker of the House of Parliament, Veikune, guilty of bribery of customs officers in an attempt to evade over $300,000 in customs duties on an imported container of rum.
It is believed to be the first time a Tongan nobleman has been declared guilty by a jury. After a seven and a half day trial in the Supreme Court at Nuku'alofa the jury of four men and three women delivered their verdict this morning.
Chief Justice Robin Webster adjourned the sentencing until February 15.
The penalties for bribery can include a prison sentence not exceeding three years, a cash payment of $2,000 for the evading of customs laws, or a payment of up to three times the value of the goods.
Today's verdict means that Veikune may also loose his seat in the Tongan Legislative Assembly under Section 23 of the Tongan Constitution, which disqualifies persons convicted of certain criminal offences from holding government positions and from voting in elections.
The jurors who ranged in age from a young woman in her late twenties to a man in his early fifties, unanimously declared Veikune guilty on both counts of bribing a civil servant, and knowingly attempting to evade custom laws. They found his co-accused, 'Amini Tu'ivai, a local lawyer, guilty on the charge of knowingly attempting to evade customs laws.
The jury's decision was a surprise for the two defendants, who appeared to have regained a sense of a victory after Chief Justice Webster dismissed the day before a third charge that the two conspired to bribe customs officers.
600 cartons of rum
The court was told that in September 2003, Veikune and two partners, 'Amini Tu'ivai and 'Aisea Toa, imported a container, containing 600 cartons of Bounty Rum and other personal items from Fiji. The container was addressed to the Hon. Veikune.
The jurors heard that that the Tongan Customs was informed to check out a certain container. Meanwhile, Veikune and his two accomplices made various attempts to bribe and to persuade customs officers to release the container, evading the payment of customs duty that amounted to over $300,000.
The Department in the end decided to take the case the case to court.
Judge's summary
Chief Justice Webster in his summary of the evidence of the trial today told jurors that after hearing and taking into account all the evidence presented to them during the trial from both the prosecution and the defence, the bottom line lay in the fact that to find the accused guilty they must be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt, and if they were not sure, or were in doubt, then the accused should be found innocent and released.
Chief Justice Webster also said that because Veikune is a noble and he was being respected as a noble he made it clear to the jurors that the Law of Tonga applied the same to him as well as to any other person in Tonga.
The prosecution for the crown was the Government of Tonga...s Solicitor General ...Alisi Taumoepeau and Crown counsel Linda Folaumoetu...i.. The counsel for the defence, representing Veikune was Siosfia Tu...utafaiva, and William Clive Edwards for ...Amini Tu'ivai.
Electoral officer
Meanwhile, the Tonga government's electoral officer, Pita Vuki, said today that a guilty verdict for Veikune would not automatically mean that the Speaker loses his seat in the Tongan parliament. He said that such a decision could be made by Chief Justice, but he thought that a member of parliament would not lose his seat if he was found guilty in a court case.