"slapping" tourist
p. 35 · Read in the full issue
Mata'afa admits "slapping" tourist
Prime Minister Mata’afa of Western Samoa has confirmed that he did hit a German tourist trespassing on the Lepea malae near Mata’afa’s house one Sun day recently.
“I slapped his face because he kept taking my picture,” said Mata’afa, when asked to com ment on a report of the incident in PIM. “It was the bus driver I was really annoyed with but he drove off down the road,” he added.
Mata’afa said that Lepea was off limits to tourists at any time and not just on Sundays. He said that all the local tour agents knew this and that the driver of the tour bus must have known this too. He said that contrary to some reports his wife Fetaui was not involved in the incident.