The editor of the Kele'a Newspaper in Tonga, Tavake Fusimalohi, has died in Nuku'alofa.
He was 68.
Fusimalohi was the former general manager of the Tonga Broadcasting Commission, and was one of the founders of the Pacific Islands News Association or PINA.
He was awarded the 2007 Pacific Media Freedom Award by PINA but he was not allowed to leave Tonga to attend the ceremony in Solomon Islands.
He was charged with sedition and criminal defamation.
Fusimalohi said in April that his publication is being targetted because it is critical of the government
In October, he was presented with an award by the Media Association of the Solomon Islands or MASI.
Fusimalohi was suffering from various chronic illnesses, such as diabetes.
