A Samoan horticultural labour contractor in Hawke’s Bay, who was the first person to be convicted of human trafficking and slavery in New Zealand, has been granted parole and will be released next month.
According to RNZ Pacific, 71-year-old Joseph Matamata, who also goes by Viliamu Samu, was sentenced to 11 years' imprisonment for using 13 people as slaves and 10 charges of human trafficking.
Two of the trafficking convictions were nullified by the Court of Appeal because of a procedural error in the Solicitor-General's office.
Between 1994 and 2019, Matamata brought people from Samoa on three-month holiday visas to work on orchards in Hawke's Bay. He'd also adopted three young people in 2016.
On Friday, Matamata appeared before the Parole Board for the third time, after serving nearly six years in prison.
