Police station bursting at the seams as Manus waits for magistrate

OVERCROWDING at the new Lorengau Police Station is becoming a problem, Manus police commander chief inspector David Yapu says.
He said there are 25 inmates held in custody for new cases, while 20 are detainees from the Lorengau Correctional Services whose warrants had expired and were brought back to police.
Yapu said the police were waiting for a magistrate to renew their (detainees) warrants to send them back to Correctional Services (CS).
“At the moment, no magistrate is available to renew the prisoners’ warrants to send them back to CS,” he said.
Yapu said their current senior magistrate was on leave and there was no relief magistrate to deal with the prisoner’s cases in court.
“We are not sure of the arrangement of the magisterial services. We don’t know who is supposed to step in while the senior magistrate is on leave. Because of this, most of our crime cases are delayed,” he said.
Yapu said those prisoners have been denied their constitutional rights to justice and fair trial within a reasonable time and it was total violation of their human rights.
“Our police cells are overcrowded and we cannot allow anymore prisoners to be kept in the cells,” he said.
“The magisterial services will have to come out clear on this so we can address the issue.”