The trial of two men accused of importing 14 kgs of marijuana to Tonga entered its fourth day today, when the former captain of a Tongan ferry identified the cargo that one of the accused loaded onto his ferry in Fiji.

The two accused are Siaosi Kadivuka Amanoni who is charged with the importation of the 14kgs of marijuana to Tonga and Semi Vete Jr who is charged with the abetment to import the marijuana. Both defendants pleaded not guilty and the trial by jury is presided over by Mr Justice Laurenson.

This is the third retrial of the case under a new jury who started on March 8.

Today, March 13, a former captain of the MV Fangaafa, Uatesoni Tauelangi, was the fifth witness called by Crown Prosecutor 'Aminiasi Kefu. In 2003 the witness was the captain of the ferry when it left Tonga to go on the slip for repairs in Fiji.

He told the court this morning that he met the accused Siaosi Kadivuka Amanoni for the first time in Suva, Fiji, when he came over to the port with other people to talk about how they would be able to bring to Tonga a fishing boat owned by a Fijian man from Lau.

He then met the accused for the second time on the following Sunday when Amanoni asked if he could come as a passenger on the MV Fangaafa when they returned to Tonga.

"I told him that I would ask an owner of the ferry, Siua Ramsay who was also in Fiji for the repairs of the boat, but when he presented his passport to me I saw it was not in order so I told him he would not be able to come on board as a passenger. He then asked me whether we could bring his cargo instead and I inquired what they were and he said they were just four tins of crackers and one suitcase addressed to Joe Ramanlal Jr. a son of one of the owners of the ferry. I told him yes, but he would have to wait until the ferry was released from the slip after its repairs and the departure date was confirmed," stated the witness.

He said that he met Amanoni for the third time in Fiji when he brought his cargo to be loaded onto the ferry. "I did not talk to him this time but I saw him from another boat unloading the four cans of biscuits and one suitcase from the vehicle he came in, to be loaded onto the ferry."

The witness was shown in court today the four cans of biscuits and one suitcase for identification, and confirmed them to be the cargo that the accused had loaded onto the ferry that day in Fiji, and he also identified Amanoni as the person whom he met in Fiji and the one who brought the cargo to be loaded onto the ferry to be transported to Tonga.

Retrial

The hearing of this case has been restarted three times since 2003, and the latest stoppage was on March 5, when Justice Laurenson declared a mistrial after discovering that the juror's foreman worked at the Global Insurance, an associated company of Global Fishing where the accused Amanoni works and the two companies also operate from the same building.

Amanoni was also set to call on his manager at the Global Fishing to give evidence on his behalf, and the judge concluded that because he did not want the foreman to feel pressured he ordered for a retrial of the case to be heard before new jurors.

The hearing resumed on Thursday, March 8 with a new jury, three women and four men, who were selected from the villages of Malapo and Holonga, Tongatapu.

The trial is expected to run until next week with more witnesses to be called by both parties.

The two counsel for the defendants are Sifa Tu'utafaiva representing Amanoni and Nalesoni Tupou for Semi Vete Jr. The Crown Prosecutor is 'Aminiasi Kefu.