Woman shows up in court after missing 3 appearances

A WOMAN, who was allegedly on the run, appeared in the Waigani Committal Court yesterday accused of defamatory publications.
On July 31, a warrant of arrest was issued for Freda Kerua after she failed to make three court appearances for allegedly posting defamatory comments on Facebook about sisters Elizabeth and Dorothy Namba.
Kerua was arrested on June 22 and released subsequently on a K300 bail, but failed to show up in court.
She stood before Magistrate Ernest Wilmot after being brought in by her arresting officer Eugene Bune from the Boroko CID minor crimes division.
She told the court that she didn’t turn up for her hearings because she thought that her case was dismissed after being released from custody.
“I was released on a Saturday (June 22), I went to the Police Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday to check the status of my case but there was no information given, I followed up on Thursday and got the same response and later was informed by my parents that the complainant’s husband
told them the matter was dismissed so I thought it (case) was over,” she said.
“I was at home and was told by my landlord that my case had appeared in the paper and a warrant of arrest issued.”
Kerua was arrested when going to the Boroko station to explain why she did not show up.
Wilmot commended the efforts of arresting officer Bune after he had formally arrested Kerua and brought her to court for the first time since being charged with the offence.
Wilmot adjourned the matter to Aug 16 for arraignment.