Samoa's Leader of the Opposition was held in custody for 24 hours before he was released on Friday in what he says is a politically motivated case.
Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi has alleged the government is trying to silence the 82-year-old after one of Samoa's most decisive political figures was arrested on charges of criminal defamation.
The former Prime Minister of the country from 1998 until 2021 says the latest police action was, in fact, politically motivated in an attempt to "shut me up".
"They are feeling very embarrassed with my responses on issues raised by the media," he said.
"The reality of the leaks from (within) the government....they have broken the law many times."
It is not the first time Mr Malielegaoi has been arrested and charged for allegedly making a false statement that harms an MP's reputation outside of parliament.
Samoa has a specific law, the Defamation Act 1993, which provides MPs a civil cause of action over defamatory statements.
Samoan Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao Fosi Schmidt has previously taken Mr Malielegaoi to court after he accused leading government ministers - including Mr Schmidt - on social media of allegations of misusing taxpayers' money for personal and family expenditure.
A court has ordered Mr Tuilaepa not to make "these kinds of comments" anymore in the public domain, but the defiant Opposition Leader raised them again at a press conference on Thursday.
"I expressed my views on issues which the media had already reported," he said.
"I made my comments in accordance with my own belief that the court had given me the opportunity to continue to practice my right as the Leader of the Opposition."
Parliamentary privilege inside the Legislative Assembly of Samoa, the Fono Aoao Faitulafono, also does not give MPs unlimited freedom to make politically-motivated statements without consequences through its standing orders and ethics procedures.
Mr Malielegaoi has faced four charges over defamation and issuing insulting words, including three that Mr Schmidt filed with police and another from Education Minister Dr Aiono Alec Ekeroma.
The Samoan FAST ruling party had previously appointed a parliamentary committee to scrutinise the conduct of Mr Malielegaoi along with his deputy leader Fonotoe Lauofo Pierre Meredith and party secretary Lealailepule Rimoni Aiafi over accusations of treason.
However, Mr Malielegaoi claimed the government inquiry stalled and fell over over a lack of evidence.
The 'Human Rights Protection Party' leader has doubled down further, claiming money the Aotearoa / New Zealand government gave to Samoa was illegally used for the FAST party to politically fund two by-elections earlier this year.
The payment was restitution for the sinking of HMNZS Manawanui, an Aotearoa naval vessel, in Samoa's sovereign waters that ran aground following a survey of a reef close to the shore.
"The money came for over a year, and the government withheld that money until the election period, and then distributed it out," Mr Malielegaoi alleged.
"Independent candidates could not stand a chance, and the government was in the forefront of promoting the distribution of this money to bribe the voters."
