7 May 2002

Preliminary hearing in Tongan defamation case on Wednesday

5:11 pm on 7 May 2002

A preliminary hearing is to be held in Tonga tomorrow over indictments of libel against several people, including pro-democracy politicians.

The libel relates to claims that the King had hundreds of millions of dollars in secret overseas bank accounts.

The Government has said the claim is false and a letter used to back it up is a fake.

Pro-democracy MPs Akilisi Pohiva and Isileli Pulu, as well as reporter, Laucala Pohiva have made court appearances over the charges.

The letter, which was published in the Times of Tonga newspaper, had been published earlier in the government-owned Tongan Chronicle without incident.