Nuku'alofa:
Two Tongan police officers were jailed on Wednesday over the death of a New Zealand policeman who was fatally beaten after being taken into custody while visiting the Pacific nation.
The officers, Kelepi Hala'ufia and Salesi Maile, were found guilty of manslaughter last month after attacking Kali Fungavaka in a police lock-up in Nuku'alofa in August 2012 after he was arrested for "minor drunkenness".
Hala'ufia was sentenced to 10 years jail and Maile to eight for the attack on the 38-year-old father-of-five, who was in Tonga for a relative's funeral when he died.
Judge Charles Cato said there was evidence Fungavaka, who won a police bravery award in New Zealand in 2006, had been "difficult" after his arrest, verbally abusing the officers.
But he said police were trained to deal with such circumstances and it did not mitigate their behaviour, which was reflected in their sentences.
"Arrest does not give a police officer the power to discipline or take the law into their own hands and effect retribution," Cato said in his sentencing remarks.
Cato said that Hala'ufia, an inspector at the time, fractured Fungavaka's skull by striking him with a torch then strangled him, breaking a bone in his throat.
He found Maile, a constable who helped arrest Fungavaka, stomped on the prisoner's head, causing serious head and brain trauma.
A third man, Semisi Kalisitiane Manu, who was also in police custody at the time and punched Fungavaka when they were locked in the same cell was convicted of grievous bodily harm and given an 18-month suspended sentence.
The officers, Kelepi Hala'ufia and Salesi Maile, were found guilty of manslaughter last month after attacking Kali Fungavaka in a police lock-up in Nuku'alofa in August 2012 after he was arrested for "minor drunkenness".
Hala'ufia was sentenced to 10 years jail and Maile to eight for the attack on the 38-year-old father-of-five, who was in Tonga for a relative's funeral when he died.
Judge Charles Cato said there was evidence Fungavaka, who won a police bravery award in New Zealand in 2006, had been "difficult" after his arrest, verbally abusing the officers.
But he said police were trained to deal with such circumstances and it did not mitigate their behaviour, which was reflected in their sentences.
"Arrest does not give a police officer the power to discipline or take the law into their own hands and effect retribution," Cato said in his sentencing remarks.
Cato said that Hala'ufia, an inspector at the time, fractured Fungavaka's skull by striking him with a torch then strangled him, breaking a bone in his throat.
He found Maile, a constable who helped arrest Fungavaka, stomped on the prisoner's head, causing serious head and brain trauma.
A third man, Semisi Kalisitiane Manu, who was also in police custody at the time and punched Fungavaka when they were locked in the same cell was convicted of grievous bodily harm and given an 18-month suspended sentence.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
