Tonga renews emergency regulations
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
The Tongan government has extended the state of emergency in the capital, Nukuʻalofa, for another month.
The move has been criticised as unnecessary by the chairman of the Tonga Civil Society Forum, Drew Havea. He says that life is now back to normal in the capital, and blames a group of Nukuʻalofa businessmen for the rollover.
"We are not sure why they are taking that particular action because we don’t see any issue but that’s their right. If they want to petition for rolling over these emergency regulations, there’s not much we can do, on our part," he said.
The emergency regulations were originally put in place two and a half years ago, as a response to the 2006 Nuku'alofa riots, and have been renewed monthly ever since. They give police wide powers to search, detain and arrest people without warrant within Nukuʻalofa's CBD in order to protect public safety.
Central Nukuʻalofa was severely damaged by pro-democracy riots on November 17, 2006.
Related news
- "Riots in Tonga" — Wikinews, November 17, 2006
Sources
- Xinhua. "Tonga renews emergency regulations for capital" — People's Daily Online, April 22, 2009
- "Tonga renews emergency regulations for capital" — Radio New Zealand International, April 22, 2009
- "Tonga Civil Society can’t see need for emergency regulations extension" — Radio New Zealand International, April 22, 2009
- "Emergency regulations in Tonga rolled over for 28th time" — Radio New Zealand International, February 20, 2009