Three successive decisions of the Court handed down this week guaranteed a great sense of relief for those that champion their Constitutional rights of free speech and the Independence of the Court.
The ordained preacher of the gospel who was sued by FAST for criminal libel is now free to go back to his family in Australia.
The indefinite suspension of two HRPP MPs by Parliament has been overturned by the Supreme Court and the allegations against a sacked CEO have also been dismissed.
Unfortunately for the former CEO, he is without a job now.
For priests and pastors alike, a precedent has been set.
Samoa is no longer a safe haven where preachers of the gospel are free to speak their minds.
The negative, hateful messages from Samoa to our diaspora are divisive and our own people that come for family events are surprised to find that our communities still live peacefully.
They thought we in Samoa were fighting all the time, killing one another.
An opposition Party in Samoa must therefore remain proactive against illegal tactics by a governing authority taking advantage of Samoa’s Traditions of cultural courtesy by not questioning the authorities until such times the consequences have become unbearable.
Hence, the Human Rights Protection Party is determined to keep our Court busy.
On 15 September, Thursday next week, HRPP will commemorate the darkest day in our political History.
It was on this day in 2021, that the FAST Government barricaded the Parliament Building and its grounds with Police and Shields to block 18 members of the HRPP from attending the first meeting of Parliament after the General Elections to take their oath as members of Parliament, representing our districts.
These yearly commemorations will be held every year as a reminder to our own HRPP members that these kinds of abuses of power must never ever be replicated by an HRPP government in the future.
Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi
Leader of HRPP