Respect court, Pang told

By CLARISSA MOI
HOTEL manager Jamie Pang, who is facing a rape charge, was admonished by a judge in court yesterday after he interjected during proceedings.
Justice Panuel Mogish told the Sanctuary Hotel operations manager to respect the court.
“This is the Supreme Court, leave the lawyers to talk,” he said.
Justice Mogish, part of a three-man bench, made the remark in Waigani yesterday when State lawyer Mercy Tamate was interrupted by Pang while responding with her points during the hearing of Pang’s bail application.
Pang’s two previous bail applications filed in the National Court had been refused.
Pang’s lawyer David Dotaona raised Pang’s own medical issues in relation to high blood pressure, as well as that of his 10-year-old daughter who has type one diabetes.
Tamate, in opposing bail, said Pang was receiving adequate medical care while in detention at Bomana Prison and his condition was not life threatening.
She added that Pang’s daughter’s medical condition was also not a reasonable ground to apply for bail because he would not be able to travel to Australia where his daughter was receiving treatment at the Queensland Children’s Hospital.
However, it was at this point that Pang interrupted, saying that his daughter was not in Australia, but in Papua New Guinea.
Justice Mogish then told Pang to respect the court and let Tamate complete her submission.
Tamate said the rape allegation was serious involving drug use.
In response, Dotaona agreed that while Pang and his daughter’s medical conditions were not grounds for bail, it was for the court to consider.
The court was told that Pang was awaiting trial which was scheduled for Dec 19-21, but the State did not file any evidence and serve on Pang or his lawyer.
Justices Mogish, Nicholas Miviri and Kina Bona will consider the submissions and hand down a ruling on Friday.