Togiola defends
Ipulasi's status
by Fili Sagapolutele
Samoa News Correspondent
Gov. Togiola
Tulafono said on his weekend radio program that anyone charged
with a crime is innocent until proven guilty and this same right
under the Constitution applies to every person, including Lt.
Gov. Ipulasi Aitofele Sunia.
The governor
was responding to a female caller, who pointed out that New York
Gov. Elliot Spitzer has resigned over the call-girl scandal and
asked Togiola for his plans about Ipulasi, who is currently facing
federal charges.
Togiola said
that just because a person is charged with a crime does not mean
that person is guilty. He said every person, including the working
person, the unemployed, the lawmaker, Fono leaders and a governor,
has their rights protected under the Constitution, and only the
court has the final decision on whether or not a person is guilty
as charged.
He said the Lt.
Governor's rights are protected by the Constitution, under which
"there is a presumption of innocence."
According to
the governor, the public should not be looking at a person's
title or job to make quick judgment but should consider rights
of the accused individual, and await the outcome of the court.
What happens
if the court later finds the person is not guilty of the crime
he/she is charged with?, he asked.
Togiola also
pointed out that while local election law requires the governor
and Lt. governor to be on the same ticket, the governor does
not have the authority, after the election,to remove a Lt. governor
from office.
He said this
is the same situation with any director charged with a crime.
He cannot remove the director until the court renders a final
decision, unless, of course, a director pleads guilty.
He said it's
human nature that people do not accept this type of explanation
but under the law and the Constitution, a person is innocent
until proven guilty.
Togiola reminded
listeners that prior to becoming governor, he was an attorney
in private practice and it was his duty and responsibility to
protect the rights of his client accused of a crime. He said
this is very important and he upholds this right for every citizen
and therefore does not plan to embrace a different stand.
When Ipulasi
was arrested and charged in September last year, the governor
said at the time that "We are a society, and a culture,
that has the maturity to wait, and to wait calmly without rushing
to blame, until the matter has been well judged in the courts."
"In the
past, other elected state leaders have been indicted and charged
while in office. We are not the first people who have had to
carry on while someone in their elected leadership undergoes
a trial for alleged wrongdoing. This is what we also will do.
We will carry on, and pray that our judicial system will render
a fair and just verdict," he added.
As to Gov. Spitzer's
resignation, Togiola said on the radio program that this case
is different because there is evidence through phone records
and recordings that the N.Y. governor called the girl involved.
However, said Togiola, Ipulasi has rejected all the charges against
him.
(It should be
noted that Spitzer has not been charged with a crime.)
Out on a $50,000
unsecured bond, Ipulasi entered a not guilty plea in October
last year at the federal court in Washington D.C. and his trial
is set for Jan. 13, 2009. Federal electronic court records state
the trial is expected to last two weeks. Ipulasi is charged with
federal crimes over bookshelves contracted for the local Department
of Education.
There have been
calls for Ipulasi to voluntarily step down, to save the integrity
of the Lt. governor's office. Two weeks ago, Common Cause president
Ben Te'o wrote to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne relaying
the watchdog group's concern about Ipulasi continuing to serve
as a government leader while a federal case is pending against
him.
Reach the reporter
at
fili@samoanews.com
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