Sāmoa's head of police clarifies charges against cabinet minister

In another twist to the criminal case involving Sāmoa’s Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, the Police Commissioner has clarified that the charges are not related to a hit-and-run incident.

The Sāmoa Observer reports that Police Commissioner Auapa'au Logoitino Filipo said the charges faced by cabinet minister La’auli Leuatea Schmidt should not be mixed up with the case of a 19-year-old who was the victim of a hit-and-run.

Auapa’au said La’auli's charges were not for the hit-and-run case as speculated on social media.

He said there was a lot of misinformation on social media, which caused confusion.

"Speculation regarding the connection between the two cases is unhelpful and potentially misleading," he said.

"The current charges are based on specific alleged offences and are being handled through the usual legal channels."

La’auli is charged with three counts of conspiracy or attempt to defeat or pervert the course of justice, one of conspiracy to commit an offence (fabricate evidence), one of harassment utilising means of electronic communication, three counts of false statement causing harm to a person's reputation, and two counts of using insulting words with intent to provoke a breach of the peace.

La’auli is on bail and is set to appear in court on 4 February to answer the charges.

La’auli is on bail and set to appear in court on 4 February to address the charges. Photo/Sāmoa Observer.

He also has a travel ban imposed, which restricts him from leaving the country.

Last Thursday, La’auli took to social media claiming his efforts to shed light on the teenager’s unsolved death had made him a target.

“I am clean from all of this,” La’auli said, adding that he remains confident the truth will prevail.

Meanwhile, the Sāmoan public is waiting to hear the outcome of various meetings involving Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa, cabinet, and members of the F.A.S.T. party.

It is understood the prime minister had asked La’auli to consider whether he should step down from his cabinet post while the court case is ongoing, according to local media reports.