Censorship in Tonga [1]
Thursday, April 24, 2008 - 05:15. Updated on Sunday, December 15, 2013 - 20:27.
Editor,
In your Online news article of April 21, 2008; "TBC's political censorship extends to press conferences" 'Inoke Huakau, a political candidate, claimed that the TBC was banning the broadcasting of his campaigning materials because TBC staff were "present" at his press conference.
If censorship is based on a mere "presence" of a person/persons, Freedom of speech/expression in Tonga might as well be abolished. In the eyes of the world, this is presumptively unconstitutional and simply idiotic and ridiculous. In essence, its appearance has reminded me of the restrictions and exceptions imposed by dictatorship regimes on Freedom of Speech. This is real bad news for Democracy and Human Rights in Tonga and around the world.
I also understand that a few years ago, there was a suspicious attempt to modify the Section 7 of the Constitution of Tonga : Freedom of Speech. In my opinion, that attempt by the government to weaken and/or practically inactivate the real functions of Section 7 is still alive and well, but in a seemingly tricky way that may not be in the best interests of peace and security in Tonga. Bob Marley once sang, " You can fool me sometimes, but not all the times."
In conclusion, I really think that the Government of Tonga must do something to stop this madness before it gets out of control. I also believe that this political censorship is a part of the Emergency Powers but the fact remains that it is unfair to 'Inoke Hu'akau and the fair parliamentary representation of the people of Tonga. My letter is hereby based on 'Inoke Hu'akau's claims in the above-mentioned. And if 'Inoke Hu'akau's claims are incorrect, I then hereby am apologizing to the TBC and its members for this letter of mine.
Yours sincerely,
Siosaia Fatani
sstuakoi [at] yahoo [dot] com