A man accused of throwing a pig’s head in a church where the Samoan prime minister was speaking will remain in custody ahead of an extradition hearing.

September 21, 2020

A man accused of throwing a pig’s head in a Queensland church to insult the visiting Samoan prime minister will remain in custody ahead of an extradition hearing over conspiracy to murder.

Talalelei Pauga, 43, was charged with committing public nuisance over the alleged November 2018 incident at Logan’s St Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Parish, south of Brisbane.

Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi was speaking about the launch of new Samoa Airways routes when Mr Pauga allegedly started yelling abuse and hurled meat and raw eggs on the floor.

A pig’s head and rocks with threatening messages written on them were also thrown during the disturbance, TV1 Samoa reported at the time.

A business associate of Mr Pauga, who preferred not to be named, says the incident was a protest against alleged Samoan cultural land rights abuses.

He said Mr Pauga was a well-known Samoan activist and a member of Samoa Solidarity International.

“Throwing a pig’s head in Samoa is a cultural insult to show disgust,” he told AAP outside Brisbane’s Magistrates Court on Monday.

Mr Pauga was also angry over alleged corruption, misuse of international aid funds and the erosion of freedom of speech in the tiny Pacific nation.

Queensland prosecutors later dropped the public nuisance charge.

But he was rearrested on August 20 this year after Samoa made an extradition request to the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department.

“Mr Pauga is wanted to face prosecution in Samoa for the offence of conspiracy to murder,” a spokesman said in a statement.

He was placed on remand in Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre, where riots recently broke out over a COVID-19 prisoner lockdown.

Lawyer Greg Finlayson said Mr Pauga was not charged with an offence in Australia.

The extradition application was scheduled to be heard by the court on Monday but lawyer George Mancini instead made submissions over Mr Pauga’s continued detention.

He said the father of four had not been lawfully processed after his arrest by the Australian Federal Police and should be released from custody.

He also asked magistrate Belinda Merrin to close the court on privacy grounds.

Ms Merrin rejected the application to exclude the public and media but asked for more information about Mr Pauga’s detention.

The matter will return to the same court on Tuesday.

Outside court, the business associate said Mr Pauga had lived in Brisbane for most of his life and holds Australian citizenship.

“It’s been tough for him since he was arrested, we weren’t able to contact him for weeks,” he said.

“Some of his kids’ Father’s Day cards were also sent back by the jail.”