Judge Issue Stern Warning to Media Covering High-Profile Court Case

By Lagi Keresoma/

Apia, Samoa – 18 June 2025: District Court Judge Talasa Atoa Saaga today issued a stern warning to the media covering the high-profile case now in the fourth of a five-week trial, about reporting what is being said in the courtroom.

Judge Saaga specifically pointed out the Samoa Observer in a story last night that pre-empted the courts decision on an application by the defense counsels that there was no case to answer.

The article said Judge Saaga “denied the application by the defense counsel in the conspiracy charges a few hours after it was filed on Tuesday morning” and attributed the information to a reliable source.

Judge Saaga voiced her disappointment at how the media handled such confidential information.

She said the matter was discussed in chambers and reminded the media about the confidentiality of matters discussed in chambers.

She also pointed to the Media & Court Reporting Guidelines already in place which the media should abide by.

The New Zealand based Radio Samoa also ran a live update yesterday and incorrectly reported the application being denied and only retracted and corrected their story in an update today.

Judge Saaga said the court is investigating how a matter discussed in chambers was leaked to the media.

She then clarified that what happened in chambers yesterday was that “she will not consider a no-case to answer on a premature basis but will allow prosecution to continue with their evidence before she rules on the application.”

After court proceedings close to 6.00pm today, she again reminded the media of the important role they play and also made an order to all witnesses who have already testified not to post comments or opinions regarding the court case on social media.

She said the media have been entrusted with factual reporting of information about the court case for the public and should concentrate on what’s being said inside the courtroom, and not on information from anyone else outside of the court.

Two former members of Parliament, a terminated Police Inspector, a couple and a media student are on trial for various charges including conspiracy and defamation relating to the unresolved hit and run incident that killed university student at Vaitele on 21 April 2021.