Magistrate warns police

By JIMMY KALEBE
A MAGISTRATE has warned police officers not to overstep their authority when issuing bail.
Lae Committal Court Magistrate Edward Kupo said there had been cases where police officers had issued bail when only the court had the powers to do so.
“Some cases are beyond the power of police to grant bail to accused persons, but some police officers see fit to give bail and that is not good,” he said.
He said the accused persons in serious cases should appear in court which would then rule whether bail should be granted.
Kupo yesterday presided over three serious cases and found that the accused persons had been granted bail by police.
“Police are police and court is court. Do not jump powers and grant bail unnecessarily thinking that you are a policeman with a high rank. That is not good enough,” Kupo said.
He said some police officers granted bail to persons they knew and denied bail to those they did not know.
Kupo said this was unfair and unjust.
He told the police prosecutor that bail could be granted for pregnant women, those in need of medical attention and others needing special attention.
“I appreciate that police are doing a good job. All I am saying is there are limits that you can act upon especially when granting bail to people,” he said.
Magistrate Kupo ordered the police prosecutor to inform the police officers responsible of granting bail to appear in court and explain how they decided on bail.