The Crown has filed an appeal to the Supreme Court against a Magistrate's decision which granted a bail variation to the Minister of Justice, allowing him to travel outside of Tonga.

Sione Vuna Fa’otusia (Tonga's current Minister of Justice) has since January been charged with wrongful interference with the course of justice and using threatening language to police officers in a dispute over a stolen cow.

He was charged and released on bail but was put on the no fly list.

The Crown's appeal, which is expected to be heard on July 19 at the Supreme Court, alleged the Minister’s application to the Magistrate did not follow proper procedure according to the Bail Act.

The proper procedure for a bail variation must include an application, supported affidavit and draft order. In this case, the only thing submitted was a letter from the Acting CEO of the Ministry of Justice at the time, on behalf of the accused Minister to be taken off the no fly list. 

On June 20, the Magistrate granted this without the Crown present. The Crown was informed later and by the time they responded the variation to the bail had already been granted.

The Crown then filed its appeal based on three grounds:

1. firstly, that the Magistrate ignored the Bail Act when he made the variation to the Minister’s bail;
2. the Crown was not informed in any way whatsoever of this; and,
3. thirdly, the only information before the Magistrate was the letter from the Acting CEO of Justice.

The Crown submitted this gave off an impression that undue pressure was placed on the Magistrate to make a ruling in favour of the accused.

This appeal is a matter of principal in that everyone is to be treated the same under the law of Tonga, submitted the Crown.

Meanwhile, the Minister is blocked from traveling abroad until this matter is settled.

Cow row case

The Minister faces the two counts of wrongful interference with the course of justice and using threatening language to a government servant, in this case police officers, in an incident that occurred on January 12, 2019.

Police had investigated a stolen cow from Fua’amotu. The cow was found to have been sold to a man in Ha’ateiho by a police officer. When police offifcers went to take the cow from this man in Ha'ateiho, he did not want police take the cow until he got his money back from the police officer. The police officers went anyway to a tax allotment removed the cow and returned it to the owner. The Ha’ateiho man then complained to the Minister.

The Minister is then alleged to have telephone the police and used threatening language, including swearing for taking the cow.

Meanwhile, the police officer who sold the stolen cow was suspended by the Police Commissioner, as he is charged with theft and accepting money as an inducement to refrain from doing his duty as a police officer.