Counsel: Probe on Pruaitch unfair

By ADRIAN MATHIAS
THE Ombudsman Commission was unfair and failed to follow proper procedures when it investigated Aitape Lumi MP Patrick Pruiatch for alleged misconduct, his counsel told the National Court in Port Moresby yesterday.
The Commission had investigated alleged misconduct in office that led to Pruiatch’s  prosecution in the leadership tribunal in 2008 and 2009.
Lawyer Mal Varitimos told Justice Stephen Kassman in court in Waigani at the National Capital District that the Commission did not give Pruiatch an opportunity to be heard in relation to the documents and records obtained from him in the Department of Forestry during their investigations.
Varitimos and Francis Griffin, of Young and Williams, represented Pruiatch in court.
The Commission was not represented.
Varitimos said it was a constitutional right for his client or any leader to respond to the documents before referral to the public prosecutor for prosecutions.
He said the process the Commission had taken to prosecute his client lacked fairness and infringed procedures.
Varitimos and Griffin submitted to court to consider and rule on:
l    The manner or process  in which the commission had taken to ga­ther materials in relation to its investigation; and
l    The investigation and prosecution for alle­ged misconduct in office.
Kassman set the matter for ruling tomorrow.
Meanwhile, all election petition cases set for yesterday and today have been deferred to tomorrow and Thursday.