The President of the Journalists Association of Samoa (JAWS), Taliilagi Keresoma, pleaded not guilty to the charges of defamation in the District Court last week.

Keresoma appeared before Judge Alalatoa Rosella Papalii. Her lawyer, Tanya Toailoa, informed the court that her client denied the charges.

The hearing into this matter has been set for early November.

Keresoma was summoned twice by the police last month following a complaint from a former police officer about a news article about him written by Keresoma. The former police officer claimed the article was making false allegations and had defamed him.

The article in question is headlined "Seeking HOS help to withdraw criminal charges inappropriate", published by Talamua Media on 1 May.

The former police officer is facing two counts of forgery. These charges stem from him allegedly forging the signature of another police officer on a loan application form to act as his guarantor.

The articles claimed that the police officer had allegedly sought the intervention of the Head of State to have the matter thrown out of court.