Remandees boycott court over 3yr delay

TWENTY-eight remandees, some of whom have been at Baisu jail, outside Mt Hagen, since 2016, have decided not to attend their hearings in the district court next month.
“They are protesting because of the long wait for decisions. They have been in remand since 2016,” Baisu commander Supt Timbi Kaugla said.
Two residential judges, Justice Kenneth Frank and Justice Robert Lee Lindsay, have been sitting in committal courts but not district courts.
The remandees had a meeting with Cpl Koiti Kewa, who represented Kaugla, to hear their grouses.
“They came up with the idea of a ‘sit in protest’ and suggested that media personnel be invited to the prison to hear their woes,” Kaugla said. “The protest will come into play when the court clerk sends the list of the remandees to go to the district courts. The district courts in other provinces have progressed but not in Baisu.”
At the opening of the legal year, Justice Gibbs Salika had urged the courts to clear the delay in settling remand cases.
Acting CS Commissioner Stephen Pokanis said remand detainees were under the National Court.
“CS only takes care of their detention and remand management. Holding remand detainees this long adds to the overcrowding woes of jails and prisons,” he said.
Pokanis said regular and consistent consultation between the CS, courts and other relevant authorities could help ease problems.