O’Neill’s arrest stayed

THE National Court yesterday issued an interim stay order on the arrest warrant issued by a lower court against former prime minister Peter O’Neill until Monday when the case returns.
Justice Nicholas Miviri granted the interim stay after O’Neill’s lawyer Greg Sheppard filed an application in the National Court at Waigani yesterday.
Acting Police Commissioner David Manning said they had obtained the warrant of arrest from the district court last Friday based on the “weight of evidence” detectives investigating an official corruption allegation against O’Neill came up with.
The warrant was to have been served on O’Neill on Tuesday but Acting Deputy Police Commissioner Operation Donald Yamasobi said O’Neill could not be located in Port Moresby.
Sheppard told the court that the stay application was sufficient because O’Neill would likely suffer “irreparable damages” caused by a “defective” warrant of arrest.
“The warrant is defective in the sense that it would pose an imminent threat to the constitutional right of the plaintiff particularly his freedom,” Sheppard said.
He said he understood that police were going to execute the warrant yesterday afternoon “unless it is stayed”.
“There is no delay on the part of the applicant in seeking this matter.”
Justice Miviri granted the stay after Sheppard argued that O’Neill was relying on a section of the National Court rules and a section of the constitution as the basis for his application.
Miviri said “the motion for interim stay is granted pending the hearing of the substantive hearing”.
The stay order gives both parties five days before the case is called on Monday for a direction hearing.
O’Neill is questioning the merit in obtaining the warrant of arrest in relation to the official corruption allegation against him.