Ila’ava ruling delayed

The National National

The Waigani Committal court has reserved its ruling on the criminal charges against former secretary of the Department of Agriculture and Livestock (DAL) Dr Vele Pat Ila’ava, to Oct 12.
Magistrate Mekeo Gauli adjourned the case saying he needed to read through and consider the submissions by Ila’ava’s lawyer and the police prosecution before making a ruling.
Ila’ava faces:

  • Nine counts of official corruption (misappropriation);
  • 11 counts of abuse of office; and
  • Nine counts of dishonesty applied.

In court, Ila’ava’s lawyer Lubia Evore, of Jema Lawyers, argued that the evidence provided by police did not establish a criminal case against his client.
Evore submitted that the charges should be dismissed because they were a gross abuse of the courts process.
“It can be established that this is a clear abuse of the courts process criminal jurisdiction especially when the charges do not have any importance in them, in the light of the evidence provided so far in the court,” Evore said.
“We submit that the court should dismiss all the 29 charges against Dr Ila’ava.”
The prosecution. however. argued that they had established a prima facie case against Ila’ava.
The charges against Ila’ava related to his role as Secretary of the Department of Agriculture and Livestock when he terminated a Corporate Security Services contract and and awarded it to Extreme Security Services (ESS).