Samoa's Associate Minister of Tourism and Trade Hans Joachim Keil has taken legal action after trying to get information for over a year as to why the United States arrested and detained him.
Mr Keil has hired lawyers in Kansas and filed a five million US dollar law suit against the U.S. State Department and Immigration and Customs over the state's allegations of him being an unlawful US citizen carrying a US passport.
According to Samoan media, the lawsuit alleges his arrest and detention from September to November last year was a violation of his rights under the fourth and fifth amendments of the United States Constitution
Our correspondent in Apia, Autagavaia Tipi Autagavaia, says a recent visit by a U.S. consulate information officer shed no light on the incident either.
"There is still no explanation from the U.S. government of the reasons behind the detention and the held up of our associate minister. And the information officer was telling me that it was interesting to find out there was no answer on that but he'll work on that to see what he can find out and do for me and the media here. But after that meeting with that U.S. official a month ago, now the associate minister has gone ahead and filed a legal action against the U.S. state department."
Autagavaia Tipi Autagavaia
