Five Tongan People's Representatives, charged with sedition in relation to the Nuku'alofa riots of November 16 last year, have asked not to be tried by a jury, but by judge alone, when they appear for trial in the Nuku'alofa Supreme Court on a date to be set.

Police Magistrate Peau Pifeleti ruled today for the cases of the five People's Representatives to be submitted to the Nuku'alofa Supreme Court for trial.

The November 16 riots, which followed a political rally, led to the burning of many buildings in the capital's business district and the looting and destruction of over 100 businesses and homes. DNA testing has revealed that eight people died in the fire that destroyed the Shoreline Power offices.

The Police Magistrate outlined the reason behind his decision, which came after one and a half hours of deliberation, to a full court-house. The accused, 'Akilisi Pohiva, 'Isileli Pulu, William Clive Edwards, Lepolo Taunisila and 'Uliti Uata were present in the court.

The Magistrate told the court that there was a lot of damage in Nuku'alofa and lives were lost. He believed that this is the basis of the case before the court.

"This is a very serious case for the people of Tonga and the Government. And in Tonga sedition is a very serious crime next to treason and apart from murder, which is the taking of a life.

"The nature or the essence of this case is of a political nature because the five accused are People's Representatives to the Tongan Parliament for the duration of 2005-07," he said.

Although the Magistrate believed that what they did in regards to the speeches made was in their capacity as PR's, he questioned the manner or methods which they used and whether it was lawful or not.

The Police Magistrate also dealt with the issue on how the Nuku'alofa damages related to the accused.

He said that on the evening of November the five PRs attempted to stop the damage and went on national radio and asked the people: "to stop the damage because what they were trying for has been achieved". This statement related to the letter signed by the Prime Minister stating that Government accepted the 21,9 and 30 figures, which was the proposal for the people to elect 21 representatives to parliament, the nobles to elect 9 making it a total of 30 members, he added.

The case of the accused People's Representatives will be submitted in six weeks time to the Supreme Court for a trial date to be set, and it includes their joint charges for sedition, relating to an incident that took place in the Cabinet Room at the Prime Minister's Office on the afternoon of November 16 last year.

A second sedition charge jointly for Pohiva, Edwards and Uata, relates to speeches they made at Pangai Si'i on November 14. There is also a joint charge of unlawful assembly for all five accused, which will be submitted also to the Supreme Court because it is under their jurisdiction.

After the Police Magistrate made his decision the accused were asked whether they wanted to be tried before a jury or the judge alone at the Supreme Court. All five representatives decided to be tried before the judge alone. This decision may be changed at a later stage at the Supreme Court.

The preliminary inquiry hearing into the sedition charges ran from May 14-30.