Leave East Sepik provincial government matter to the court, says Chief Justice

By JULIA DAIA BORE

THE Supreme Court at Waigani has called on people not to interfere with the proceedings of the East Sepik provincial government executive council's reference, The National reports.
"We express our concerns in the strongest terms possible," Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia said yesterday before ending the second day of the reference hearing at Waigani.
He said he was speaking on behalf of the five-judge Supreme Court panel hearing the matter.
The panel consists of Sir Salamo, Deputy Chief Justice Gibbs Salika, senior judges Bernard Sakora, Nicholas Kirriwom and Les Gavara-Nanu.
Sir Salamo said: "We ask the media, the interested public and all interested parties to leave the courts to deal with this matter."
He said the panel agreed to express their concerns about public interest and events as they were unfolding outside the courthouse and as reported by the media.
"There should not be any form of interference from anybody on the matters before this court."
He called on the media to report about the public involvement of the reference court matter "with care, responsibility and fairness".
He said the media's reporting of the public involvement of matters before the court could amount to interfering with the proceedings.
"Nothing should be repeated from the public and any interested parties by the media ... that amounts to interference with issues being dealt with by the courts," he cautioned.
Sir Salamo said this did not mean the court was interferring with the freedom of the press.
"The media is free to report on issues, but there are limitations to do so," he said in reference to on-going events outside the Waigani Court main gates.