Marat: I visited Kapris in jail

JUSTICE Minister and Attorney-General Dr Allan Marat has admitted to visiting prison escapee and robbery suspect William Kapris in Bomana in which the prisoner confided his fears in him.
Dr Marat visited Kapris on Feb 8 at the Bomana maximum security prison, where he escaped from with 11 others on Jan 12.
Kapris was recaptured on Feb 6, and met with Dr Marat two days later.
Dr Marat said Kapris expressed grave concerns about the economy of PNG, but said he could not go into details because his tape recorder had run low on batteries.
“He was concerned about the economy of the country.
“He was scared of telling me the names of high-profiled persons, so he never mentioned their names to me,” Dr Marat said.
He said the main concern of the prisoner was why the authorities were taking so long to hear his case.
“He was also very worried about the safety of his family, particularly his aging parents at Bubusi settlement in Kimbe and his wife and children.”
While Dr Marat recalled the visit in an interview, Kapris wrote about this in a sworn affidavit currently before court.
Kapris said in his statement that Dr Marat was accompanied by his executive officer Peter Aigilo and acting Commissioner for Correctional Services Henry Wavik.
Kapris said Dr Marat recorded their conversations in a small tape recorder.
Dr Marat told The National recently that Kapris had requested in a letter written to him asking to see him in person.
Dr Marat said he was also aware that similar requests were made to the Prime Minister, the Public Prosecutor and the Commissioner of Police.
“He just wanted to talk to us. This was the reason why I went up in person to see Kapris, the prisoner, and hear him out.”
Dr Marat said as the national justice administrator and a law officer of PNG, he was empowered under sections 154 and 156 of the Constitution to visit and hear out any citizen who wished to be heard.
But he denied that Kapris told him the names of politicians who had allegedly funded and benefited from the robberies he had allegedly committed and is facing charges for.
Kapris told Dr Marat he could turn to the State and police as an ally, and work with them.
Kapris also said in his 20-page affidavit, dated last March 27 that on Feb 9, acting CS Commissioner Wavik visited him with a notepad and biro and asked Kapris to make his confession in writing.
This, he did, and wrote a 36-page account which Mr Wavik picked up later in the day and promised Kapris he would return with an extra copy for him.
However, to date, this has not eventuated.
Kapris’ 20-paged affidavit is the second time he has made similar statement of willingness to assist the authorities to bring to justice those who were behind him to commit the three major bank robberies involving millions of kina – the Minerals Refinery Operations (MRO), and the Kerema and Madang Bank South Pacific (BSP) robberies.
Kapris’ first willingness to assist the authorities was made when he was recorded on a 90-minute video recording which is now with police for their official use.
The March 27 affidavit also gave a detailed confession of Kapris’ gang’s involvement in the robberies of MRO in 2007, the Kerema and Madang BSP branches in 2008.