Tuai, aged 63, has pleaded not guilty to two charges of dealing in slaves. Photo: RNZ / Gill Bonnett
The wife of a man accused of slavery has denied her husband took money from two young people and threatened them with being deported if they didn't "follow the rules".
Senia Tuai denied withholding one man's passport or that she sent messages to him and his pregnant partner after they ran away, "effectively cursing the birth of the baby".
Her husband Moeaia Tuai's trial at the High Court in Auckland has heard one man recount how Tuai grabbed him by the neck and slammed him to the ground.
Senia Tuai said the man had been drunk and slid off a chair and was face-down on the ground.
Chris Howard, prosecuting, said Tuai put his weight on the man and his wife sat on him, alleging he could hardly breathe as a result. She denied that, but acknowledged he was taken to hospital afterwards.
Howard said Moeaia Tuai would threaten the male complainant with deportation or losing citizenship if he didn't follow the rules - something his wife denied - and added she did not know why there was no money in the young man's account when he regained access to it.
Court suppression orders prohibit the complainants being identified, as well as other aspects of the case.
Tuai, aged 63, has pleaded not guilty to two charges of dealing in slaves.
He also denies two rapes, assaults, eight charges of indecent assault, and six of sexual violation by unlawful connection.
Howard said the second complainant, a young woman, had worked seven days a week from May to July 2021. Senia Tuai, who faces no charges and was appearing as a defence witness, said the complainant wanted to work, and got to spend her own wages.
"She had a say in buying food, and whatever she wanted, it wasn't as if we were in control of her money and she had no say," she said.
She denied she beat her over a relationship with a man.
The jury has heard allegations the young woman was coerced into taking out a bank loan, and Howard said she too had been threatened with being deported.
"Did Moeaia ever threaten to have her citizenship cancelled and to have her deported?" Howard asked his wife.
"When [the woman] ran away or the day after, did you discuss having her citizenship cancelled and having her deported?"
She rejected the allegations, saying that a call to authorities the day after the woman ran away last year was not an attempt to have her deported.
"We wanted to have more information on conditions about the citizenship," she said. "So it wasn't to ... we didn't talk about deporting her, but it was just, we just wanted to know more about the conditions of being a citizen."
When asked what conditions they might be, she said she did not know, but thought the woman could bring their name into disrepute.
The trial continues.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
