More questions raised at Kapris

From PAUL OATES

Well may Mr Kapris, or is it Kapis, claim to have been acting in conjunctionwith some high profile figures. But the point must surely be, if such a claim was made, to what extent would it benefit Mr Kapris? There can only be  one good reason why Mr Kapris would want to 'spill the beans' on any high  level accomplices. He wants to have a record made of his testimony BEFORE anyone tries to get to him and rub him out.

The example of Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused killer of US President Kennedy, readily comes to mind. The fact that it took over a year for Jack  Ruby, Oswald's killer, to be brought to trial reeks of conspiracy and corruption at a high level. Ruby died in custody before he could appear in court. It doesn't take much imagination to work out that Kapris was sprung for a reason or that there were powerful and influential backers behind the scenes. It begs the question of why Kapris was sprung if he had nothing to offer anyone?
The PNG Police Commissioner should indeed be taking a personal interest in the case and ensuring a full and legally water tight testimony is extracted from Kapris before any further information is 'leaked' to the public. The question of who leaked the Kapris confession should be the subject of a full investigation along with how Kapris was sprung from a maximum security  establishment. Nothing less than a full judicial review should be made and  quickly at that. The best evidence is always the freshest.
One cannot but observe the apparent duplicity of Mr Arthur Somare who has insisted the three high level helpers who assisted Mr Kapris escape must be publically named. Why would this be done before anyone has been charged? It would only help destroy the case against them by the Prosecution. On the other hand, Mr Somare jnr. has been amazingly quiet about getting to the
bottom of such other issues as the Motigate affair, the Taiwan millions and any amount of official corruption claims. Why is he so insistent about knowing who the claimed three accomplices are?
It could be speculated that if there had been a high level deal going, anyone who had been left out of the action might want to know who was involved? Whether that was to keep them quiet or to get a cut of the loot might also be a matter of conjecture?
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Who is threatening our national security?
March 2, 2010

By Kumbit Aivi

The recent highly publicised prison walk out and the subsequent recapture of suspected bank robber and notorious criminal William Nanua Kapris and his cohorts has brought to the fore at least two serious issues facing our country. While this walk out continues to pose a temporary physical security issue, the real issues that underlie a threat to our national security are vested in the circumstances surrounding the walk out and the state's ongoing responses to our law and order challenges.
Kapris has been adamant since his capture and detention that some benefactors of the activities for which he is accused, especially the two daring bank robberies, are high profile people in the community and that these people have since profited from the loot. If his claims are true, then this country is in serious trouble. That there are indeed people of high standing who occupy positions of great trust and responsibility are behind Kapris' life of crime is indeed a great cause for concern. This is the first
real national security issue that needs addressing immediately.
Police and other authorities within our justice system will be well advised to take heed of Kapris' allegations and do everything within their powers to disprove him. His revelations, if he did disclose anything at all, may well be a case of sour grapes since the law caught up with him and left him high and dry while his passive partners enjoyed the loot in relative peace and
security. Whatever his motive is for the attempt to now 'spill the beans' on his cohorts, a thorough investigation is required to get to the bottom of his claims.
Certain members of the disciplinary forces are clearly deeply entrenched in this particular case judging by the police uniforms and equipment that were used in the robberies and the unusual lapses in security protocol that lead to the walk out at the Maximum Security Unit at Bomana last month. These must be carefully investigated and the perpetrators brought to face justice
together with Kapris. There have also been insinuations about a possible involvement by certain politicians and bureaucrats which must also be investigated and the individuals responsible rounded up and made to face the law. It is in the interest of our long term security and well being that the state must act judiciously and swiftly to properly prosecute this case and set up a good deterrent precedent for the future.

Free phone calls over the Internet

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Today's Farm Report

From PAUL OATES
While we are getting some rain there's not enough runoff yet to fill the dams. Not like out west where the desert will bloom this year and Lake Eyre will probably fill.

Fungi are sprouting up everywhere and the cattle are doing well after only 12 years of drought.

Return of the Wau girl

BY OSEAH PHILEMON in The National

 

SHE paid her own way to fly from Brisbane to Lae to observe the first-ever Women in Business Expo held in the Morobean capital last weekend.

And she was impressed.

Sulam Abdelsamie comes from Wau in the Morobe Province.

She is married to an Egyptian agriculturalist that used to work for the Department of Agriculture and Livestock in PNG many years ago.

They both now live in Brisbane where Sulam runs two family businesses: one farming cooking herbs and the other a boarding lodge in the heart of Brisbane.

The couple has lived in Australia for the past 30 years after leaving PNG.

Her first business was a piggery but that did not last.

When the hydroponic herb farm came up for sale they grabbed the opportunity and are now producing all kinds of herbs for cooking.

Their main clients are the Coles supermarket chain all around Brisbane and North Queensland as well as northern New South Wales.

It has been a business she has been working on for the last two years.

Sulam also moved into the accommodation business running a small boarding lodge for travellers who wish to stop over for a short time or weekends.

“With family business you have to commit yourself 100% to it,” she said.

Sulam decided to come to Lae for the expo after hearing about it.

She said she happy that she did.

“I am very impressed.

“Times are changing and there are many opportunities for women to get out there and get themselves involved in business,” she said.

Next year the women in business expo will be staged in Port Moresby and Sulam says she will come back.

Motigate cover-up

Ombudsman wants Prime Minister, Polye investigated

 PRIME Minister Sir Michael Somare covered up the Motigate Affair, according to the Ombudsman Commission, The National reports.

The Ombudsman recommended that Sir Michael and his former deputy prime minister, Don Polye, be referred to the Police Commissioner to be investigated for possible Criminal Code charges.

Also recommended for police investigations are acting chief of staff of the Prime Minister Leonard Louma, deputy commissioner of police (administration) Toami Kulunga, police lawyer Hodges Ette and four senior Defence Force personnel.

It said this in its 70-page final report into the Julian Moti Report Affair which was tabled in Parliament by Deputy Speaker Francis Marus today.

Ombudsman commissioners John Nero and Phoebe Sangetari compiled the report, noting with concern that the procedures of the arrest of Moti, then the Solomon Islands attorney-general, were flawed from the outset when he was taken out of Jackson International Airport transit lounge, en route to Honiara, on Sept 29, 2006.

The Ombudsman said the police and the courts misinterpreted the Extradition Act and the Migration Act while PNG Defence Force air squadron acted out of line in eventually flying Moti to Munda, in the Solomon Islands, breaching PNG Civil Aviation procedures in the process.

It said the Prime Minister had used a national security provision of the Organic Law of the Ombudsman Commission on Nov 2, 2006, to prevent Mr Louma and then chief secretary, Joshua Kalinoe, giving evidence to the Ombudsman Commission and a separate Government inquiry into the Moti affair.

The Ombudsman said "this is seen as a means of protection, or cover-up" which prevented Mr Kalinoe, departmental heads and public servants from giving any information, answering questions or producing documents and other matters to the Ombudsman.

“In the opinion of the Ombudsman Commission, the direction to transport Mr Moti to the Solomon Islands came from the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Sir Michael Somare, which was facilitated by key government officials,” it concluded.

 

Irregularities cited in arrest, transportation of Moti

THE Ombudsman Commission said in its final report into the Motigate Affair that there many irregularities and technical/legal flaws surrounding the initial arrest, detention, bail and transportation of Julian Ronald Moti, The National reports.

It said his initial arrest and detention was unlawful because the arrest was made without a provisional warrant of arrest.

The bail, it noted, was unlawful because Moti was not allowed to be bailed under the Extradition Act of 2005, unless on special circumstances.

The Ombudsman also noted that the provisional warrants of arrest issued were not applicable under the Extradition Act.

"Despite the fact that there was no NEC decision to transport Moti to the Solomon Islands, key Government officials directed and facilitated the transportation. Their actions were contrary to the order of the court that Moti be arrested and brought before it."

It said, overall, there was lack of proper awareness of the laws and procedures under the Extradition Act of 2005 among relevant Government bodies which caused confusion in the implementation of the extradition process.

It said that as far as it was concerned, Moti's entry into PNG did not breach the Migration Action (ch.16).

"The initial arrest and detention of Moti (by the police) was unlawful and in breach of the Extradition Act.

"The direction from the then deputy Prime Minister, Don Polye, to acting police commissioner Toami Kulunga to have Moti released from police custody was wrong."

The Ombudsman Commission said in its executive summary that the actions of Joseph Assaigo (late), then director general of OSCA, to direct the PNGDF to fly Moti to Munda (Solomon Islands) was wrong.

Also, the PNGDF hierarchy and the air transport command were wrong in complying with "an unsanctioned operation" and in breach of the Civil Aviation Act of 2000.

 

Retired army chief warns of serious security threat

THE build-up of illegal firearms in the country is seriously threatening to destroy Papua New Guinea, former PNGDF commander and National Guns Control Committee (NGCC) chairman retired army general Jerry Singirok has said, The National reports.

"PNG's national security faces an extremely serious threat.

"The National Government's failure to deal with the threat posed by the build-up of illegal firearms is threatening national security," he said.

Speaking in Lae today, Gen Singirok said the Government should urgently debate in the current Parliament sitting the NGCC report and take immediate action to deal with the crisis.

"The Government received the NGCC report in September 2005 and yet, to date, it has shown no real political will to deal with this increasingly serious threat.

"The report contains 244 recommendations for affirmative action," he added.

"Our national security is at stake and I do not say this lightly.

"We are in a far more serious situation now than ever before and the future does not look any better as long as illegal firearms are being supplied freely nationwide without any deterrent or action," Gen Singirok said.

He said the NGCC's warning to the Government and politicians in 2005 about the rapidly increasing influx of illegal high-powered firearms being brought into PNG "is now happening".

"It is no longer an academic finding or conclusion nor a rumour. It is real and it is real throughout the Highlands region, Lae, Mamose, Islands and Port Moresby.

"The people have spoken; they told my committee in 2005 that they want all illegal guns removed from society.

"They told the committee their lives are in grave danger; the mothers came forward and told of how their husbands had been killed by guns in tribal fights, yet their stories were not bad enough to move the Government into action.

"I want to tell the Government and Parliament that the consequences of lack of control by them are evident, already in state institutions such as the police and Correctional Services.

"As chairman of the NGCC, I am calling on the Government as a matter of urgency and of national importance to immediately debate the 2005 NGCC report," he said, urging the ministers of Justice and Internal Security to take the lead in the debate and implement the NGCC's recommendations.