Somare seeks to dismiss case

By JULIA DAIA BORE and JACOB POK
THE Leadership Tribunal hearing the case of Angoram MP Arthur Somare changed its course yesterday when his lawyer made a fresh application to have the referral dismissed.
Details of the grounds for his application will be discussed at the tribunal next Thursday.
His lawyer Kerenga Kua yesterday sought the tribunal’s approval to make the application which the tribunal admitted could raise important jurisdictional issues.
Kua told the tribunal that the application contained “important and fundamental issues that needed to be dealt with” first.
“Never before in any tribunal has such an application been made. This would be the first of its kind,” Kua said.
The Tribunal comprises Justice Salatiel Lenalia as chairman, Principal Magistrate Orim Karapo and Senior Magistrate Noreen Kanasa.
Kua did not publicly disclose grounds for the application during the hearing but the tribunal, after studying it, told So­mare’s legal team to make submissions on it next Thursday.
The tribunal told the hearing yesterday that the lawyers should assist it in determining whether it has the jurisdiction to hear an application of such nature.
State prosecutor Katwa Umpake asked for time to peruse the documents he had just received from the Somare defence team. 
The tribunal also handed down its formal confirmation of Somare’s suspension with full pay effective from Monday, July 4.
The tribunal also granted Somare’s request for a one-month adjournment for him to prepare evidence to counter the charges by the public prosecutor relating to 105 allegations of misapplication of electoral funds.
But should his application for the dismissal of referral next Thursday be successful, the whole case could end there.