Five Tongan police officers are among those set to stand trial over the manslaughter of New Zealand constable Kali Fungavaka.
In Tonga today, a Supreme Court judge committed three police officers - Fatai Faletau, Tevita Vakalahi and Manu Tu'ivai - for trial. The trio had initially been discharged in amagistrate decision that ruled there was not enough evidence to charge them.
Following an appeal from the Crown however, they will now join two other officers and a civilian for trial on the manslaughter of Counties Manukau officer Mr Fungavaka.
The 38-year-old died last August while in Tonga for his grandfather's funeral.
He had earlier been taken into custody for a minor drunken incident and was allegedly beaten repeatedly, causing severe head injuries.
