Power of mercy may help ease overcrowding in jails

OVERCROWDING in jails throughout Papua New Guinea will be relieved in the New Year when the Parliamentary Committee on power of mercy starts its work, chairman Aiye Tambua says.
Tambua said many prisoners qualified to be released on mercy but were still in jail because the committee had not been active.
He said since his appointment as chairman of the committee, he had seen that a good number of prisoners qualified for release and this in turn, would relieve some of the pressure the country’s prisons were under.
Tambua, who is Goroka MP, said freeing up space would also allow prison administrations to better manage their populations and make savings on time and resources.
He told inmates at Bihute jail outside Goroka during a visit over the weekend that there was hope for them even though the process would be lengthy. At the end, prisoners who qualified would be released on the power of mercy.
Tambua visited Bihute on Sunday to deliver food for prisoners and used the occasion to explain that the candidates for power of mercy was for those considered low-risk prisoners.
He said prisoners who demonstrated that they had been rehabilitated and had changed their ways would qualify for release.
Tambua was accompanied by Eastern Highlands police commander Supt Michael Welly, Goroka development authority chief executive officer Benson Imara and Bihute commander Supt Donald Apeti and warders.