African fined K200 for illegal entry

By BUSTIN ANZU
AN AFRICAN was fined K200 by the Vanimo District court, West Sepik, early this week for illegally entering the country.
But provincial police commander Tobby Hamago said the fine was too lenient.
“It (K200) is a lousy fine. This fits a normal petty crime fine like bag snatching,” he said.
“Illegal entry into a country is a criminal offence in law and fines should be between K2,000 and K3,000.
“Now we have set a precedent that any offender who crosses the border into our country, especially through Indonesia, knows that the fine will so little they can work around that,” a frustrated Hamago said.
He said this after a Ghanaian was fined K200 when he illegally crossed the border to see his internet girl friend from PNG.
Hamago said the courts “are too soft on offenders who commit serious crimes”, adding as for drug cases “the maximum is two years in jail and there is no such things as suspended term for drug offences.”