Check cases: Kramer

By REBECCA KUKU
ALL high-profile cases of national interest that have been dismissed in courts will be revisited to establish why they were thrown out, says Police Minister Bryan Kramer.
Kramer told The National that unlike before, in his capacity now as the Minister for Police, he would be “taking a keen interest in any or all high-profile cases of national interest” that were thrown out of courts to establish why they were dismissed.
Cases of two men, who were suspected of aiding Milne Bay’s notorious fugitive Tommy Baker, whose gang was responsible for terrorising and robbing communities in Milne Bay and parts of Central since last December and also for the Jan 24 chaos in Alotau, were recently dismissed due to lack of police investigations.
The first suspect was freed on July 24 and the second yesterday.
Kramer said that he had asked acting Commissioner Francis Tokura and DCP operations David Manning to provide a brief on the case for him.
“Just because a case is dismissed by the district court does not mean the matter is over,” Kramer said.
“It just means, that at that time either police failed to submit hand-up brief within three months or there was insufficient evidence submitted to justify the matter being committed to stand trial in National Court. If there are no justified grounds then the officers charged with those cases can expect to be held accountable.”
Kramer also said that he could not comment on whether the case of the suspected Baker-aides would be re-opened as it was a matter for police to decide based on the evidence available.
“My job is to ensure that police are carrying out their job in accordance with the law, diligently and with due care. So, until I’ve had the opportunity to be fully briefed by acting police commissioner (Tokura), it would be premature for me make formal statements in relation to the merits or progress of the cases.”