Baki looking for sorcery guidelines

By TREVOR WAHUNE
POLICE Commissioner Gari Baki says there are still no guidelines in place to deal with people accused of sorcery.
He told The National yesterday that dealing with people accused of sorcery was still an issue that they were dealing with.
He was at the opening of a specialised training centre at the McGregor Barracks in Port Moresby.
“If there was enough evidence presented to us to charge them criminally under the existing laws, then we would deal with them accordingly,” he said.
“If they are believed to be committing sorcery, then an offence of murder or assault occurs, we will look at the law provisions in existence and deal with them.
“At the moment we have to look at the existing laws and advise all our provincial police commanders how they could inter-relate with communities, to see how best they could deal with all these sorcery issues.”
Baki said he would call a meeting with his senior officers to discuss what approaches to take on people accused of sorcery.
Justice Minister and Attorney-General Davis Steven said this week the “blame game” in the fight against sorcery-related killings would not help in addressing the issue.
He was responding to a statement made by Paul Barker, the executive director of the Institute of National Affairs, who said the response by the Government and the leaders to sorcery-related violence had been inadequate.
“Prime Minister Peter O’Neill announced a very clear condemnation on behalf of the Government and our people and has expressed strong disapproval of this behaviour,” he said.
“So the search is for how we can react as a nation, the blame game won’t solve the problem. It’s about every one of us doing our little bit.”