High Court to hear contempt bid against lawyer

 By CHARLES MOI

A CONTEMPT application against lawyer Loani Henao will be heard next week by a Supreme Court judge. 

The application filed by the State through lawyer Peter Kuman relates to comments made by Henao which were reported in a newspaper article on Oct 14. 

At the Waigani Supreme Court House last Friday, Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia (pictured) ordered both parties return on Wednesday for the hearing of the contempt application. 

Sir Salamo was unable to hear the contempt application last Friday as he had other cases to preside over. 

Both parties informed the court that they had no issue with a single judge presiding over the contempt application. 

The news article was published following a press conference that  Opposition leader Belden Namah held on Dec 13.

Sir Salamo ordered that a Supreme Court judge who is a member of the panel dealing with the substantive application concerning the constitutionality of the Manus processing centre will hear the contempt matter.

The application by Namah challenging the constitutionally of the Manus processing centre will go before a five-man Supreme Court bench on Dec 19. 

Henao is the lawyer representing Namah in the application challenging the constitutionality of the Manus processing centre.