Court refuses Pang’s bail bid

By CLARISSA MOI
THE Supreme Court has refused a bail application for hotel manager Jamie Pang, charged with rape, because he failed to establish any exceptional circumstances and has ordered the trial to proceed.
Justice Panuel Mogish, on behalf of a three-man bench ruled in Waigani on Friday that Pang’s alleged offence constituted a serious assault.
Additionally the offence also involved the possession of drugs.
“Pang has not raised any grounds in support of this application.
“He has failed to establish any exceptional circumstances.
“For those reasons, bail is accordingly refused and the matter proceeds to trial from Dec 19 to 20,” he said. Pang’s initial bail application in the Committal Court at Waigani was refused on Feb 24.
He then filed another bail application in the National Court before acting Judge Laura Wawun-Kuvi which was refused on March 8 on the grounds that the alleged offence involved a serious assault, and having in possession a firearm, imitation of firearm, or other offensive weapons.
Pang filed a second bail application in the National Court before acting Judge Tracy Ganaii which was refused on Aug 4.
The grounds of refusal were that the court was not satisfied that Pang had demonstrated a change in the circumstances relevant to the application and that the court did not have the power to hear the application.
Pang then filed a fresh bail application to the full court of the Supreme Court.
The court comprising Justice Mogish, Justice Nicholas Miviri and Justice Kina Bona ruled that Pang did not raise the grounds relied upon in the last application for bail but only highlighted them as background to the application.
They said Pang’s lawyer David Dotaona did not advance the issue of Pang’s medical and mental condition and his daughter’s poor health as grounds in support of the bail application.