Judge tough on contempt of court offenders

REDUCING custody time or imposing fines for contempt of court is not an option that will be taken by the Madang National Court.
  This was expressed by resident judge David Cannings when he sentenced Stephanie Valakvi to six months imprisonment last Friday.
The court was told that a court order was in place for Valakvi, from East Sepik, and her de-facto husband Elias Padura to refrain from threatening, harassing or instigating violence against each other.
The order, made on May 8 this year, gave effect to a statutory declaration made between Valakvi and Padura, a Filipino, to split their joint business operations among other orders.
The court heard that on June 22, at the
InterOil service station, Valakavi assaulted another woman, believed to be a female friend of Padura.
When Padura tried to come between the two women while telling her that she was breaking a court order, Valakvi turned on him, pulling his hair and cutting his arm with her car keys causing bleeding.
The court was told that Valakvi even incited an amused crowd to “fight him, kill him”.
Cannings, in citing eight previous similar case studies, said the primary punishment was committal to custody. “It is clear that imposing a term of imprisonment (either as a primary or default penalty) will be consistent with the approach by the National and Supreme Court in the past,” Cannings said.
Despite a very impressive character reference on Valakvi and considering she had two young children, Cannings said: “Every Papua New Guinean, whether she or he acts in a private capacity or is a public official, has a duty to comply with the law and in particular to obey court orders, even in cases where there is a genuine belief that the order is irregular or wrong.
“It might be said that it is an aggravating factor if the person who disobeys a court order is a public official or a leader under the leadership code. But is does not follow that a person’s private status should make them unsuitable for punishment.”