A female journalist in Tonga has been threatened at gunpoint following the broadcast of a news story about an Australian criminal deportee serving a life sentence in Tonga for methamphetamine importation.
The incident, in which an unknown individual threatened the journalist at the Kele’a Publications office in Nuku’alofa 12 days ago — 23 April — is under investigation by police.
Kele’a Publications manager Teisa Cokanasiga told RNZ Pacific that the man featured in the ABC’s Foreign Correspondent documentary had plans to set up a chapter of the Comanchero, an Australian outlaw motorcycle gang in Tonga.
Cokanasiga said the incident, which appeared to be an attempt to silence the press, had shaken her small team.
“It is a big concern, and it is very worrying to me that this happened to us, to a journalist in our small organisation,” she said.
Cokanasiga said Kele’a Publications lacked resources, such as security cameras, that could assist with the police work and investigations into the incident.
She has calling on Tongans to help them if they have any information about the man.
Cokanasiga said gang-related activity was a big concern in Tonga, as it was in many other Pacific Island nations.
“People in the country are worried about drug trafficking and [the] growing influence of gang-related crimes, and it’s a huge concern.”
However, she said journalists should be allowed to do their job, as it was the media’s role to inform the public about public interest stories.
RNZ Pacific has contacted police for comment.
Media Association ‘shocked’
Meanwhile, the Media Association of Tonga (MAT) has expressed its “profound shock and deep concern”.
“The presence of a firearm in what is understood to be an act of intimidation represents a dangerous and unacceptable escalation against press freedom in the kingdom,” MAT said in a statement on Tuesday.
“MAT views this incident as a direct assault not only on the safety of an individual journalist but on the constitutional right of every Tongan to receive information without fear or favour.”
MAT president Katalina Uili Tohi said targeting of media personnel undermined democratic principles and silenced the voices that held power to account.
“The Media Association of Tonga is appalled by this brazen act of intimidation. Journalists must be able to carry out their work without the threat of violence or death,” she said.
The association is calling on the Minister of Police and the police chief to launch an urgent, thorough, and transparent investigation to apprehend the perpetrator.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz