Group in court for breach of visa conditions

A GROUP of expatriates facing charges related to breaches of visa requirements appeared at the Lae district court, Morobe, yesterday.  

They included 23 Chinese nationals and a man from Bangladesh.

District court magistrate Posain Poloh adjourned their cases to various dates.

The biggest group comprising Chinese men and women will re-appear tomorrow after their lawyer Kaik Karu said he was yet to get formal notification of the charges from police.

Poloh adjourned the cases for another six represented by lawyer Steven Kenso to May 21. 

They pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The court heard that three of the six – Yang Ming King, Zakir Mozar Far and Zhang Yuang – were supposed to be working for Tan Trading in Erima, Port Moresby. 

But they were operating a shop on Markham Road at Lae’s Top Town.

They however argued that the Erima shop was their headquarters and that they had branched out to Lae.

Another lot represented by lawyer Kennedy Paias pleaded not guilty to the charges. 

Some complained to the court that immigration officials in Port Moresby had been holding on to their passports for some time now.

“I thought passports belong to individuals and should be in their possession,” Poloh said.

“These passports should be given to a neutral person to hold like the clerk of the court and not police or immigration officials.”