Waigani court to decide on Alfie’s bail application

THE National Court today will decide the fate of Alphonse “Alfie” Silas Hombi, the alleged mastermind of the Minerals Refining Operations (MRO) robbery in 2007.
Hombi is alleged to have committed the robbery involving millions of kina, including gold bars, with suspected bank robber William Nanua Kapris.
He will know today whether he would be granted bail while awaiting the hearing of charges of one count of abduction and two counts of rape in Port Moresby’s Waigani Committal Court.
Defence lawyer Godwin Haumu made the bail application last Wednesday before Justice Nicholas Kirriwom on grounds that Hombi was not safe in the custody of the Correctional Services under the circumstances of the
highly publicised bank robberies as he was a prime witness in police investigations.
Haumu had an affidavit from the Gerehu police station commander Stephen Kapera who made allegations against the arresting officer, Insp Ben Turi’s affidavit used by the prosecution against the release of the accused.
Using these two affidavits, Haumu presented disputing issues to the court from Kapera’s affidavits against Turi’s affidavit.
But Kirriwom interjected and told Haumu: “What relevance is this evidence before this court? This is not the forum for disputing police officers’ (internal) disagreements … This is not the kind of evidence that should be brought before an arena, such as this public court.
“If there are differences (between police officers), sort it out in your offices.”
The judge also told Haumu to summarise and thereby shorten his lengthy verbal  submission which Kirriwom said was in writing.
Turi’s affidavit gave 18 grounds why Hombi should not be released from custody pending committal hearings on his three charges.
The major grounds were that the accused lived next door to the victim and complainant, from whose complaints the two charges had been laid against the accused; and fears of his (accused’s) possible interference in the impending case.