Estonian in Tonga gets fully suspended 2-year sentence for cannabis
Toomas Liiv, an Estonian resident of Tonga, was sentenced to two years' imprisonment, fully suspended for three years, for possessing 67.12 grams of cannabis, growing four plants and holding ammunition found in a police search at Puke in 2019. The Nuku'alofa Supreme Court heard he used cannabis for chronic back pain.
Toomas Liiv, an Estonian who has lived in Tonga since about 2003, was sentenced
by the Nuku’alofa Supreme Court to two years’ imprisonment, fully suspended, on
charges arising from a police search at Puke in 2019.[1]Justice Niu sentenced
him on 18 December 2020 after he pleaded guilty to three charges: possession of
cannabis, cultivation of four cannabis plants and possession of two .12 rifle
bullets without a licence, all dated 12 April 2019.[2]Police searched his
home after a tip that he had drugs there and found 67.12 grams of cannabis and
the bullets, which he said were his.[2]
The court heard that Liiv, who came from Estonia with his father at about 18 and
stayed on, works as a plumber and motor mechanic to support his partner and two
teenage children.[2]A doctor who examined him at the court’s order confirmed
a back problem consistent with osteo-arthritis, and Liiv told the judge he used
cannabis because it relieved the pain, having grown his own after earlier
sentences for possession.[2]
Justice Niu said possession for a high deserves punishment but that this case
concerned relief of pain, suspended the two-year term in full for three years
and warned that any imprisonable offence in that period would activate it.[2]The court ordered the cannabis destroyed by police and the rifle forfeited to
the Crown.[2]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Convicted
1
Sentenced
1
Plants destroyed
4
Cannabis
67.12 g
Prison
2 years, fully suspended for 3 years
Agency
Tonga Police
Agency type
Police, Court
Cannabis
Herbal cannabis (67.12 g); Living plants (4 plants)
Activity
Possession, Cultivation
Setting
Home
Charges
possession of cannabis; cultivation of cannabis plants; possession of ammunition without a licence
The Attorney General's Office sentencing judgment, Rex v Toomas Liiv (CR 56/20), could not be read because it is published as a PDF, so the sentence relies on Matangi Tonga's summary of the remarks.
The article does not give the exact date of the police search beyond 12 April 2019, and does not say whether charges were filed that year or in 2020.
The article gives no street value for the cannabis and no figure for its weight beyond the 67.12 grams.
The article does not state the defendant's age at sentencing or whether the four plants were seized or destroyed at the address.
Acting Justice Langi sentenced Folauhola Palanite, 40, to 21 months in prison, with the final six months suspended, and gave his wife Mele, 36, a 15-month term fully suspended for two years at the Supreme Court in Nuku'alofa on 22 October 2026. The couple had admitted possessing 40.07 grams and 3.89 grams of cannabis, along with drug utensils.
Viliami Taulafo, 34, was given a fully suspended 18-month prison term at Tonga's Supreme Court for possessing 200.98 grams of cannabis found at his Talafo'ou home. Police seized the cannabis in a February raid, and the court suspended the custodial term for two years with probation, a drug programme and community service.
Tonga's Supreme Court sentenced Mekiloni Fotu Aso to 18 months in prison, with the final six suspended, after police found 63 cannabis plants and 266 grams of cannabis at his Fua'amotu home in July 2025. He pleaded guilty to cultivation, possession and utensils charges; the court ruled he was a supplier.
Kilisitina Finau, 34, was sentenced to two years in prison in Nuku'alofa on charges including possession of 484.43 grams of cannabis. Her 23-year-old co-offender Lesieli Makasini was found guilty of possessing a smaller amount and received a suspended sentence.