Parinjo out on K500 bail

By JULIA DAIA BORE
EAST Sepik police commander Charles Parinjo is out on bail.
The National Court in Waigani late last Thursday granted bail for Parinjo, ordering a K500 surety.
Parinjo’s bail bid saw his lawyers and relatives travelling throughout the East Sepik, West Sepik and the National Capital District.
Hearing the initial application during last Thursday at the National Court in Waigani, Justice Panuel Mogish told Parinjo’s lawyer Jack Nalawaku that without seeing the order of the Wewak District Court magistrate on why bail had been refused, proceedings could not go on.
Mogish issued an order calling on Wewak District Court magistrate Christine Anawe to immediately release that to Parinjo’s lawyers to enable the bail application to proceed.
“Whether the magistrate’s decision was published or not, I must see that decision, even if it is only written in one sentence; we have to get over that hurdle first before I hear your client’s bail application. That is the law,” said Mogish.
He then told his associate and the lawyers in attendance, to be prepared to reconvene on this matter, “any time, even over Easter ”.
Nalawaku then rushed back to his office to follow up on the matter and, at 3pm, he headed back to the Waigani National Court.
Justice Mogish reconvened the court and ruled at 4pm last Thursday to grant bail to Parinjo.
The charges against Parinjo stem from an incident in Vanimo where he was travelling by road when he was allegedly attacked and his vehicle damaged.
It was alleged Parinjo then demanded compensation, resulting in the K10,000 settlement between the parties – a Francis Chieng of the Mushu Log pond and the Border International Ltd company in Vanimo.