A jury this afternoon at the Nuku'alofa Supreme Court found five men not guilty of sedition charges relating to the riots and destruction of Nuku'lofa, November 16, 2006.

Chief Justice Anthony Ford had last week discharged a sixth accused Siale Fihaki of sedition charges due to insufficient evidence.

The jury of seven men delivered their unanimous verdict in court at around 1:40pm this afternoon after deliberating in closed chambers for about 30 minutes.

The five accused: namely the Ha'apai People's Representative Sione Teisina Fuko of Ma'ufanga, Semisi Tapueluelu of Haveluloto, Paula Vi of Masilamea, Siosiua Uipi of Fatai and Tevita Fifita of Popua were charged with sedition relating to the riots and destruction of November 16, 2006.

They were alleged to have made seditious remarks between October 26 to November 16, 2006, at Pangai Si'i and other venues.

Fihaki of Nukunuku who was initially charged with two counts of sedition together with the five accused was discharged by the Chief Justice on March 19.

This was because in the Crown witnesses' evidence relating to Fihaki they came out with different versions relating to the alleged seditious remarks that he was being charged with.

In the second count of sedition the Crown had only one witness who gave direct evidence to the alleged words in the indictment but the law required that two witnesses must be provided to give evidence in order to prove a charge of sedition.

Verdict

In giving their verdict the jurors firstly found Sione Teisina Fuko not guilty of two counts of sedition, which related to two speeches allegedly made at different venues of the OBN Television and Pangai Si'i on November 15, 2006.

Fuko was initially charged with three counts of sedition but a third count was withdrawn on March 19 due to insufficient evidence.

The Jurors declared Tapueluelu not guilty of one count of sedition relating to words he allegedly spoke of on November 16, 2006 at Pangai Si'i.

The speeches made on the day of the riots, November 16 could not be recorded on DVD or video.

Uipi was found not guilty on one count of sedition relating to words allegedly spoke of at Pangai Si'i on November 13; the same went for Vi who was found not guilty on words he allegedly spoke of at a meeting in Masilamea on October 26.

The fifth accused Tevita Fifita was also declared not guilty on one sedition charge relating to words spoke of on November 14, 2006.

The trial began on March 2 where the Crown called a total of 29 witnesses while the defence chose not to call any witnesses.

This is of the defence legal right because the onus of proof rested on the Crown's shoulder to prove beyond reasonable doubt the charges against each of the accused.

The Crown Counsel was Acting Solicitor General 'Aminiasi Kefu while the accused were represented by various counsel. Fuko by Clive Edwards; Fihaki by Laki Niu; Tapueluelu and Uipi by Sifa Tu'utafaiva; while Mana Kaufusi represented Fifita and Vi.