Court issues warning to pastor over threats

By JAAMES GUMUNO
A CHURCH pastor threatening to attack a complainant in a court proceeding has been warned to stop immediately by the Hagen District Court.
Magistrate Donald Joseph told Pastor Daniel Paul, who is a defendant in a land dispute case, to respect his work as a pastor. “You are a servant of God and must respect the court order in place and stop mobilising your people to attack Samuel Kewa, the complainant,” the magistrate said.
Kewa, who appeared in court with Paul, told the court yesterday that the pastor and his people had threatened to kill him.
Kewa said that while the matter was pending in court, the pastor continued to make drains and a new garden on the disputed land in the Baiyer district, Western Highlands.
The court told Kewa to return to court if Paul or any of his people threatened to kill him or attack him over the land or see them making a new garden. Joseph told the pastor not to make any new gardens on the disputed land while the matter was still pending in court.
He told Paul to harvest food from his old garden on the disputed land to eat to survive but not to make any new garden.
The matter will return to court in May.