CJ files complaint against Kramer

By JEFFREY ELAPA and REBECCA KUKU CHIEF Justice Sir Gibbs Salika has lodged a formal complaint with the police against Police Minister Bryan Kramer.
In the complaint letter, dated Nov 11 and signed by Sir Gibbs, the CJ wants the police to investigate a post on the minister’s Facebook page last month.
The post was found on Kramer’s Facebook page soon after the National Court on Oct 16 issued an interim stay order on the arrest warrant issued by a lower court against former Prime Minister Peter O’Neill.
The National on Tuesday received a duplicate copy of the letter and the CJ’s office yesterday confirmed that the letter addressed to Police Comm David Manning is authentic and was delivered to Manning.
The three-paragraph letter reads:
“I formally lodge a complaint against the Honourable Member for Madang and the National Parliament and the Minister for Police, Honourable Bryan Kramer.
My complaint is that he posted articles on his Facebook page account relating to my role in referring a matter for Miviri, J (Justice Nicholas Miviri) to deal with in relation to an application for interim stay of a warrant of arrest by the Waigani District Court to arrest the Honourable Peter O’Neill.
His article on the Facebook page is inciting trouble or tending to cause trouble or ill-feeling among people.
“I request police to investigate the matter and to lay appropriate charges (sic) under s.11 (Section 11) of the Summary Offences Act and to look at the possibility of laying charges under the Cyber Crime Act as well.” Section 11 of Summary offences relate to a false or misleading report. It states a person who spreads false or wilfully misleading reports tending to cause trouble or ill feeling amongst people or groups of people, including between individuals is guilty of an offence. While the Cyber Crime Act provides for offences that relate to false publications.
Acting Police Comm David Manning said police would be investigating the CJ’s complaints of offences allegedly committed by Kramer.
Manning told a press conference yesterday that “the Office of the Commissioner had received a formal complaint from Sir Gibbs on Tuesday which was also copied to the Chief Ombudsman of the Ombudsman Commission.
“The matter has been referred to the Office of the Asst Comm (Crimes) Hodges Ette and an officer would be identified and tasked with carrying out the initial enquiries into the offence (s) allegedly committed by Kramer,” he added.
Kramer told The National yesterday evening that he was looking forward to being called in for questioning and that he would be helping police investigations by providing credible evidence to justify the statements published on Facebook, including evidence that had yet to be made public.
“For the record I won’t be avoiding arrest by hiding under the bed of a hotel room, hiding out in Parliament, or fleeing the country.
“I am only too happy to make myself available to the police officers tasked to investigate the Chief Justice’s complaint or any complaint for that matter,” he added.
Kramer said he was not aware of the complaint lodged by Sir Gibbs until he was contacted by mainstream media reporters on the CJ’s letter of complaint to Manning.