Deputy Prime Minister, Fonotoe Pierre Lauofo, yesterday maintained his innocence in relation to an incident on Beach Road that has landed him and a fellow Cabinet Minister in Court.
Giving evidence before District Court Judge, His Honour Vaepule Vaemoa Va’ai, the deputy Prime Minister rejected claims that he had interfered with the performance of Police duty on the night of the incident.
Whereas Fonotoe is facing a charge of inciting or encouraging the obstruction of a Police officer from executing his/her duty, Associate Minister, Muagututagata Peter Ah Him is accused of one charge of making an illegal U-turn and wilfully obstructing a Police officer from executing his/her duty.
The senior Ministers have both pleaded not guilty to the charges. Lawyers from the Office of the Attorney General, Rexona Titi and Brigitta Lo Tam- Faafiti are prosecuting.
Lawyer, Donald Kerslake, is representing Fonotoe while Muagututagata is being represented by lawyer, Patrick Fepulea’i. Fonotoe disputed evidence by Police officers that he told Muagututagata to drive off while the Police were attempting to breath test him.
“I didn’t tell him to drive off,” he said. Asked why he bothered to stop, Fonotoe said he was concerned about the Associate Minister and he wanted to know what was happening. When the prosecution put it to him that perhaps he was unhappy to see the Police stopping his Associate Minister, Fonotoe said: “I asked because I wanted to understand. I wasn’t unhappy it was curiosity.” Earlier in his evidence, the deputy Prime Minister said he finished work late that day and had contacted his wife for her and the children to meet him in town for dinner.
<!-- 300 x 600 - Large Skyscaper -->
<ins class="adsbygoogle"
style="display:inline-block;width:300px;height:600px"
data-ad-client="ca-pub-9419815128221199"
data-ad-slot="6181566413"></ins>
<script>
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
</script>{/googleAds}
Prior to that, he went to Leon’s Restaurant at S.N.P.F. Plaza because he wanted to speak to the owner. When he arrived, the owner was not there but there were some businessmen at the bar he was familiar with.
They chatted for a little while and they bought him a beer. The Court heard that he had taken sips of the beer. Fonotoe told the Court he noticed that “there were many police officers there and they were drunk.”
Among them was Assistant Police Commissioner, Tala’imanu Keti, whom he said was laughing loudly at the bar. Later in the evening, Fonotoe said Tala’imanu stopped by him where they shook hands.
“He said they had been there since 3pm in which I said to him you’ve been here long.”
It wasn’t long after that Muagututagata walked into the bar. Fonotoe left while Muagututagata was still there. The deputy Prime Minister told his Associate Minister that he had somewhere to go. After dinner with his family at around 10pm, the deputy Prime Minister was on his way to Millennia to another business meeting.
In front of the Development Bank of Samoa, he saw that Police officers had stopped the Associate Minister’s vehicle. He didn’t stop immediately. However, in front of the Tooa Salamasina Hall, he decided to turn around because he was concerned about the Associate Minister.
“I couldn’t help but be concerned and so I turned round,” he said.
He told the Court that he parked next to Muagututagata’s vehicle while the Police vehicle was parked slightly behind the Associate Minister’s car. Fonotoe said he saw only two officers; Ioapo and Tevita. When he asked them what they were doing, Ioapo responded that they were testing the Associate Minister for alcohol.
He sat in his vehicle and watched the test being conducted. Moments later, Fonotoe said he heard the door of a vehicle being closed as if the occupant was angry.
The occupant, he claimed, was Senior Constable Ma’anaima Patu. He told the Court that the Senior Constable was being loud and saying things he couldn’t really hear. He thought to himself that perhaps by making a lot of loud noises, the Police officer was telling himself that justice was being done.
He disagreed with this notion so he told them:“If it is justice that you are in search of, go up to bar and get Tala’imanu.”
The officers told him that this was not necessary since Tala’imanu was not driving his car. The deputy Prime Minister told the Court that he was not loud. He said he only questioned the Police because he wanted to understand what was happening to Muagututagata. His Honour Judge Vaai has adjourned the matter until 11 April 2014 for his verdict.
<!-- adsense_mainbody_banner -->
<ins class="adsbygoogle"
style="display:inline-block;width:468px;height:60px"
data-ad-client="ca-pub-9419815128221199"
data-ad-slot="8546623614"></ins>
<script>
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
</script> {/googleAds}