Samoan teens

Samoan teens allegedly kept as slaves by Hastings chief

The boy was 17 years old when he was brought to New Zealand for work by Joseph Auga Matamata in 1994. Matamata denies 24 charges of human trafficking and slavery over a 20-year period.

Now aged 43, the man finished giving evidence this morning as the trial heads into its second week at the High Court in Napier.

The boy's aunt told the court that her nephew ran away to her house, also in Hastings, in 1996.

"I asked him why and [he] said he was tired of being a slave ... and tired of Auga treating him like a slave."