Sunday, October 30, 2005



Tonga and the death penalty

While we're on the subject of Tonga, I note that a Tongan jury has returned a "guilty" verdict in a murder case for the first time in 24 years. Sentance will not be passed until November 10th, but Tonga still has the option of the death penalty for murder, so this raises the spectre of the country carrying out its first execution since 1981.

The New Zealand government has a longstanding policy of opposing the death penalty; shouldn't our new foreign minister be speaking up about this?

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