OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
PRESS RELEASE
(for immediate release – Monday, September 10, 2007)
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Statement from Gov. Togiola
on Lt. Gov. Ipulasi case in Hawaii

(UTULEI) – Governor Togiola Tulafono today issued the following statement regarding Lieutenant Governor Ipulasi Aitofele Sunia’s departure from the Territory on Saturday, September 8th:

STATEMENT

I promised our territory in March 2005 that if there are any investigative conclusions that may affect the Executive Office or the Administration from the inquiries conducted by the federal government, I would come back to inform you.

On Saturday, September 8, 2007, federal agents accompanied the Lieutenant Governor to the State of Hawaii to make his initial appearance before a federal court.  Before his departure from American Samoa, the Lieutenant Governor called me personally, while I was still in Hawaii, to inform me of his situation, and the plan for his departure from the territory.  The Lieutenant Governor also indicated to me that he was being treated respectfully and with due care by agents of the FBI.  He was allowed to inform immediate family members and relatives, and to turn himself in voluntarily before flying out on Saturday morning.  I appreciate very much the federal government’s sensitivity towards the feelings of our people and our culture.

What has happened to our elected Lieutenant Governor affects all of us living together on a small island, where we are all known to each other. 

We must be straightforward and accept that if the charging authorities prove to be right, we as a society cannot condone such actions.

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.