NZ journos back Tongan colleagues

New Zealand’s journalists’ union, the EPMU, is supporting journalists on the Taimi O Tonga, which has been banned in Tonga.

Tonga has classed the Auckland-based newspaper a “prohibited import” after it published a scandal about a Tongan government minister.

EPMU national secretary Andrew Little said that for a government to ban a publication because it was exercising the fundamental human right of free speech was unacceptable.

“It is the role of the media report fairly and fearlessly,” he said. “It is not acceptable in the 21st century for a ruling elite to deny its people the right to be informed about issues in their community.”