Falisi Tupou is a Tonga

Tonga

Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...

n journalist and politician.

He is a senior editor at Keleʻa, the newspaper of the pro-democracy movement

Human Rights and Democracy Movement

The Human Rights and Democracy Movement is a political party in Tonga. Its leader is Uliti Uata.The HRDM was founded in the late 1970s as an informal group of Tongans interested in democratic reform. It was formalised in 1992 as the Pro-Democracy Movement, and contested several elections under...

, owned by [[ʻAkilisi Pohiva]]. In April 2007, he was arrested and charged with sedition

Sedition

In law, sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent to lawful authority. Sedition may include any...

 over an editorial in which he was accused of describing the King as utukovi ("bad brain"). In April 2009, he was co-defendant in a civil defamation case brought by Prime Minister

Prime Minister of Tonga

This is a list of Prime Ministers of Tonga from the establishment of that office in 1876 until the present day.-List of Premiers/Prime Ministers of Tonga :-External links:*...

 Feleti Sevele

Feleti Sevele

Feleti Vakaʻuta Sevele , styled Lord Sevele of Vailahi was the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Tonga from 30 March 2006 to 22 December 2010.-Early life:Sevele was born in Ma’ufanga, Nuku’alofa...

 against the newspaper, which was found liable.

In September 2011, he was selected as the candidate of the Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands

Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands

The Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands is a political party in Tonga. The party's leader is 'Akilisi Pohiva....

 to stand in the by-election to the Tongatapu 9 seat

Tongatapu 9 by-election, 2011

A by-election was held in the Tongatapu 9 constituency on 15 September 2011. It was triggered by the death of the incumbent, first time MP Kaveinga Faʻanunu, who died of head and neck cancer on 24 July...

 in the Legislative Assembly

Legislative Assembly of Tonga

The Legislative Assembly of Tonga has 30 members, 9 members elected for a three year term in multi-seat constituencies via the single non-transferable vote system, 9 members elected for a three year term by the 33 hereditary nobles of Tonga, 10 members of the Privy Council and 2 governors. The...

. The seat had been won in the November 2010 general election

Tongan general election, 2010

Early general elections under a new electoral law were held in Tonga on 25 November 2010. They determined the composition of the 2010 Tongan Legislative Assembly....

 by DPFI candidate Kaveinga Faʻanunu

Kaveinga Faʻanunu

Kaveinga Faʻanunu was a Tongan politicianHaving a Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry, he worked for nine years in various "forestry, agroforestry and managerial" positions in the government's forestry department, before going into politics...

, who had died of cancer seven months later. Tupou retained the seat for the party, winning 32.8% of the vote and seeing off the other five candidates with a comfortable margin.