Police are investigating after a female journalist was allegedly threatened at gunpoint following coverage linked to an Australian criminal deportee serving a life sentence for methamphetamine importation.
The incident reportedly occurred at the offices of Kele’a Publications in Nuku’alofa on 23 April, according to reporting by RNZ Pacific. The threat followed local coverage connected to an ABC Foreign Correspondent documentary involving the deportee and alleged plans to establish a chapter of the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang in Tonga.
Kele’a Publications manager Teisa Cokanasiga told RNZ Pacific the incident had deeply unsettled the newsroom and raised concerns about the safety of journalists working on organised crime and drug trafficking stories.
“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.
Ms Cokanasiga said the publication lacked resources such as security cameras that could assist police investigations. She also urged members of the public with information to contact authorities.
The Media Association of Tonga (MAT) has condemned the incident, describing it as a serious attack on press freedom and public access to information.
In a statement, MAT said the alleged use of a firearm represented “a dangerous and unacceptable escalation against press freedom in the kingdom”.
MAT president Katalina Uili Tohi called for an urgent and transparent police investigation, warning that intimidation of journalists undermines democratic accountability.
The case has also renewed wider concerns in Tonga and across the Pacific about the growing influence of transnational drug trafficking and gang-related activity.
