‘Isileli Pulu the Tongatapu no. 2 People's Representative told the Nuku'alofa Supreme Court yesterday morning, July 3, that all allegations made against him in relation to November 16, 2006 were untrue.

Pulu is charged with eight counts of abetment to murder and one count of abetment to arson relating to the deaths in the Shoreline building fire on November 16, 2006.

On the 13 Day of the trial by jury 'Isileli gave evidence as the first witness for the defence.

He is alleged to have incited his two co-accused Sosefo 'Amone and Siosiua 'Ulutaufonua to commit the crimes of murder and arson. The co-accused, are charged with eight counts each of murder and one charge of arson endangering life.

The PR told the court he neither knew nor spoke to or contacted either of the two co-accused prior to and on November 16, 2006.

He said on November 16, 2006 he had never met nor made any contact with the two men. He said he became acquainted with one accused Sosefo when he was arrested and detained in custody.

The first time he saw the other accused Siosiua was when they came to court for the start of the jury trial.

'Isileli's counsel Clive Edwards asked the accused if the allegation that he incited people to burn Shoreline was true?

The accused answered that the allegations against him were not true because he never incited nor encouraged anyone to do these things on or prior to November 16.

Parliament

On recollecting the events of November 16, 2006 the accused told the court that Parliament was supposed to sit but it didn...’t.

He said that on November 16, 2006 the PRs went into Parliament House but they were informed that the house was adjourned and to check back later in the afternoon.

In the afternoon the PR's wrote a letter and the accused delivered it to the Speaker of the House. The Speaker was not in parliament and was in a meeting with the nobles and the Ministers.

Pulu said they remained at Parliament until 1:30pm when a worker at Parliament told him of a scuffle at Pangai Lahi.

"I felt it was my duty as the number two PR to go and offer assistance but when I got there the argument had already taken place, and I told people to go back to Pangai Si'i," he said.

The accused returned to Parliament and he heard noises coming from outside. He went out and saw many people and he told them to go back and he too went and sat with the crowd for about 20 minutes and listened to speeches being made.

He said a group of people then made their way to the Prime Minister's Office and he followed to see what was happening.

"When I got there the road was full with people and it was noisy and I saw Deputy Police Commander Taniela Faletau and Chief Inspector Kainga Hia trying to stop some of the people from entering the PM's Office."

The accused said he then went over to assist the two police officers as well as other officers before returning to Pangai Si'i. Again people moved and there were shouts for Molisi, at this time he said he was getting a bit tired of sitting so he followed to see what was happening.

"While walking there some people were coming back and were heading west and I heard shouting for Ramanlal Hotel and Shoreline."

The accused said he decided not to continue to Molisi but instead followed the people on the road and when he arrived at the Ramanlal Hotel [Pacific Royale] it was being smashed and damaged so he just stood there and watched.

He said he tried to call his wife on his mobile phone to see if she was near so he could use her mobile to take pictures. He then tried calling the other Peoples' Representatives to inform them of what was happening but he could not hear anything or get through.

Denied thanking rioters

Pulu said that at the Pacific Royale Hotel he did not meet, see or talk with either of the two accused nor did he meet, see or talk to them while walking to and from Shoreline.

He went on to deny the allegations made by one witness of the Crown that he thanked the group of rioters who were stoning the Pacific Royale Hotel.

"The allegation that I said thank you to rioters is false because I would never say thank you for doing anything bad," said 'Isileli.

He said that at the hotel he heard shouts for Shoreline, but he never directed people to go there as alleged. He also denied evidence of two of the Crown witnesses' that he said on the phone, "we are nearly there but we are on our way."

"What they said was false because I never said anything like that. He also said he never raised his hand as if to command people in the direction of Shoreline nor did he do anything to suggest that he was encouraging people to go there.

Shoreline entrance

His counsel showed a picture of the accused standing close to the entrance to Shoreline Building and asked why he was standing there.

Pulu said he was standing on the other side of the road when he heard someone said "no and don't". He said he was concerned that it might be one of the Shoreline employees, so he moved closer to see but instead he saw objects being thrown around and he backed away.

The accused did not recall how long he remained at Shoreline but he estimated that it might have been 15 to 20 minutes or more before he returned to town.

He said while walking back the hotel was still being smashed but was not yet burned and Leiola was also being smashed. He also denied ever saying "Plan 4" on his phone as alleged by one witness.

"I came back to Pangai Si'i and there were still a lot of people there, I looked for the other PR's and was informed they were in the Cabinet room in a meeting," he said.

He then went to the meeting, attended by the Prime Minister, the Ministers and some of the PR's and Nobles Representatives.

"I told them the events that were happening and described what I had seen at the Ramanlal hotel, Shoreline and Leiola. And the only reason I told them this was because a proper meeting should have been held before the events took place," he said.

He added that his only intention of following the crowd was out of curiosity and, secondly, he wanted to get a proper account of the events to report back to the meeting.

"I never knew of any plan by the PR's or by others to smash and burn Shoreline," he added.

Three more witnesses are expected to be called on behalf of the accused.