06-28-2007, 11:05 PM
28 June 2007
MEDIA RELEASE
“Kele’a’s Report is Deceitful and Defamatory”
The Prime Minister’s Office wishes to inform the public that the report (in Tongan) published by the Kele’a newspaper on 20 June 07, entitled “Feleti Sevele Denies Report on Beatings,” is deceitful and defamatory.
Their deceitful and defamatory report is based on an entry published in the TNews website forum page on 30 May by a forum participant who registers as “Feleti Sevele.”
The Prime Minister’s Office wishes to state very clearly that the Hon Prime Minister of Tonga, Dr. Feleti Vaka’uta Sevele, had nothing to do with the entry that appeared in the TNews website.
The forum entry by the fictitious “Feleti Sevele” published on the TNews website on 30 May stated: “ I request Semisi Tapueluelu and 531 (another fictitious forum name) to stop telling lies as I did not make any appearances on television to question who are the hidden people behind the report. The truth is that the report is full of lies for it was motivated by hatred and a desire to do damage to the international image of His Majesty, the government and the people of Tonga. The public should carefully examine the character of the people who are spreading these lies and are exaggerating the news.”
The Kele’a newspaper then produced the report which is complained of here on the presumption that the fictitious “Feleti Sevele” that contributes to the forum in the TNews website is the Hon Prime Minister of Tonga, Dr. Feleti V. Sevele.
After Kele’a published its deceitful and defamatory story on 20 June, the TNews website published another entry on the same day, 20 June, from the fictitious “Feleti Sevele”. The new entry stated: “I have just read in this week’s edition of the Kele’a newspaper a report which states that they have finally located a response from Feleti Sevele regarding the alleged beatings by the police and soldiers. You stupid fools, who do you think will be crazy enough to use their correct names in such international forums. I am not Feleti Sevele the Prime Minister of Tonga. And I am not related at all to Feleti Sevele, but it is only my forum name. It is really irritating to note how the Kele’a newspaper is desperately seeking to unearth any wrongdoing by the Prime Minister of Tonga. It is now clear that they are novices to the world of technology as they have quickly made the assumption that this Feleti Sevele in the forum is the Feleti Sevele of Tonga. In another forum I called myself ‘Akilisi Pohiva and I am at liberty to give myself any forum name that appeals to me. But Kele’a should desist from its quest to unearth any wrongdoings by the Prime Minister because Feleti Sevele is doing well in Tonga. As for me, I am a big guy from New Zealand, part American, who acts like a Maori and speaks Tonga. Ha ha ha ha ha. Take that!”
It is clear from this new entry by the fictitious ‘Feleti Sevele” in the TNews website, that he is not Dr. Feleti Vaka’uta Sevele, Prime Minister of Tonga. Despite this clarification the Kele’a did not see it appropriate make a correction in the 27 June issue of their newspaper.
The Kele’a newspaper in their deceitful and defamatory report of 20 June has belittled and ridiculed the dignity and status of the Hon Prime Minister of Tonga by falsely claiming that he made the entry published in the TNews website. Not only that they went on to compare him to Captain General Augusto Pinochet who headed the military junta in Chile from 1973 to 1990.
The Prime Minister’s Office has already sent a letter to the Kele’a newspaper requesting a correction and an apology.
Ends
Issued by: The Information Unit, Prime Minister's Office, P.O. Box 62, Nuku'alofa, Tonga.
Telephone: (676) 24 644 Fax: (676) 23 888 Email: pmomail@pmo.gov.to
MEDIA RELEASE
“Kele’a’s Report is Deceitful and Defamatory”
The Prime Minister’s Office wishes to inform the public that the report (in Tongan) published by the Kele’a newspaper on 20 June 07, entitled “Feleti Sevele Denies Report on Beatings,” is deceitful and defamatory.
Their deceitful and defamatory report is based on an entry published in the TNews website forum page on 30 May by a forum participant who registers as “Feleti Sevele.”
The Prime Minister’s Office wishes to state very clearly that the Hon Prime Minister of Tonga, Dr. Feleti Vaka’uta Sevele, had nothing to do with the entry that appeared in the TNews website.
The forum entry by the fictitious “Feleti Sevele” published on the TNews website on 30 May stated: “ I request Semisi Tapueluelu and 531 (another fictitious forum name) to stop telling lies as I did not make any appearances on television to question who are the hidden people behind the report. The truth is that the report is full of lies for it was motivated by hatred and a desire to do damage to the international image of His Majesty, the government and the people of Tonga. The public should carefully examine the character of the people who are spreading these lies and are exaggerating the news.”
The Kele’a newspaper then produced the report which is complained of here on the presumption that the fictitious “Feleti Sevele” that contributes to the forum in the TNews website is the Hon Prime Minister of Tonga, Dr. Feleti V. Sevele.
After Kele’a published its deceitful and defamatory story on 20 June, the TNews website published another entry on the same day, 20 June, from the fictitious “Feleti Sevele”. The new entry stated: “I have just read in this week’s edition of the Kele’a newspaper a report which states that they have finally located a response from Feleti Sevele regarding the alleged beatings by the police and soldiers. You stupid fools, who do you think will be crazy enough to use their correct names in such international forums. I am not Feleti Sevele the Prime Minister of Tonga. And I am not related at all to Feleti Sevele, but it is only my forum name. It is really irritating to note how the Kele’a newspaper is desperately seeking to unearth any wrongdoing by the Prime Minister of Tonga. It is now clear that they are novices to the world of technology as they have quickly made the assumption that this Feleti Sevele in the forum is the Feleti Sevele of Tonga. In another forum I called myself ‘Akilisi Pohiva and I am at liberty to give myself any forum name that appeals to me. But Kele’a should desist from its quest to unearth any wrongdoings by the Prime Minister because Feleti Sevele is doing well in Tonga. As for me, I am a big guy from New Zealand, part American, who acts like a Maori and speaks Tonga. Ha ha ha ha ha. Take that!”
It is clear from this new entry by the fictitious ‘Feleti Sevele” in the TNews website, that he is not Dr. Feleti Vaka’uta Sevele, Prime Minister of Tonga. Despite this clarification the Kele’a did not see it appropriate make a correction in the 27 June issue of their newspaper.
The Kele’a newspaper in their deceitful and defamatory report of 20 June has belittled and ridiculed the dignity and status of the Hon Prime Minister of Tonga by falsely claiming that he made the entry published in the TNews website. Not only that they went on to compare him to Captain General Augusto Pinochet who headed the military junta in Chile from 1973 to 1990.
The Prime Minister’s Office has already sent a letter to the Kele’a newspaper requesting a correction and an apology.
Ends
Issued by: The Information Unit, Prime Minister's Office, P.O. Box 62, Nuku'alofa, Tonga.
Telephone: (676) 24 644 Fax: (676) 23 888 Email: pmomail@pmo.gov.to