Prosecution set to close murder case
PROSECUTION is about to close its case on the trial conducted on the case of a young man facing the murder of another young man in the Short Islands, Western Province, in 2015.
Martin Rapena is standing trial for one count of murder in relation to an allegation in January 2015 at Komaliae Village in the Shortland Islands.
Prosecution had called a total of four witnesses when the trial started two weeks ago before Justice Francis Mwanesalua.
They will close their case after they tender an exhibit, which is a knife, to the court.
The tendering of the knife allegedly used by the accused to stab the deceased was supposed to be done today.
That was however, not done due to the ill health of the presiding judge and the matter was therefore adjourned generally.
The matter will return to the court again when the presiding judge resumes work.
Rapena was only about 18 years of age when he allegedly stabbed a young man on New Year’s Day in 2015.
The deceased was injured and was transported to Taro Hospital where he was admitted until the following day where he was further transferred to the Gizo Hospital
He was later flown to the National Referral Hospital but sadly died on 9 January 2015.
Police charged Rapena with one count of unlawful wounding but then withdrew it and laid the murder charge after the deceased died at the hospital.
Michael Holara of Public Solicitor’s Office is representing Rapena while the Director of Public Prosecutions Ronald Bei Talasasa Jr and his counsel John Wesley Zoze appear for the Crown.
Court sets to rule on technical issues today
RULING on the technical issues raised in three separate criminal cases, including the fraud cases of the two former permanent secretaries, Henry Murray and Edmond Sikua has been deferred to this afternoon.
Chief Magistrate Emma Garo was supposed to hand down her ruling yesterday but did not do so as she is yet to complete her ruling.
She will hand down the ruling .30pm in the Honiara Magistrate’s Court.
Oral submissions on the technical issue were made in court on Friday last week on the cases of Murray and his wife who were accused of defrauding the government of more than $1.1 million, and Papua New Guinea national Rose Kaius.
Kaius faces charges of restriction on making liquor and unlawful presence.
The court heard submissions from Leslie Kwaiga of L & L Lawyers who represents Murray and his wife, Maelyn Bird of Emerald Lawyers representing Kaius, and Public Prosecutor Florence Joel who made her responses on behalf of the Crown.
Sikua’s lawyer Gabriel Suri of Suri’s Law Practice did not appear on that day but had filed his written submissions.
The defence counsels are arguing that a magistrate must sign the documents before the charges are deemed legal and lawful.
One of the counsels submitted that the police officer who signed the document (charges) acted illegally in using the form based on the fact he did not comply with what the law says and therefore is in breach of the law.
He then asked for the charges to be dismissed for non-compliances or in breach of the law.
Prosecution however argued that the acts of the police officer who signed the charges are not illegal as he complied with the section 76, subsection, 3, of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC).
The prosecutor submitted that if the accused understands the charge and knows the allegations the charge is therefore not invalid.
She said the charges against the accused in these three cases contain the statement of offences, the particulars, and explains the nature of offence.
She further argued that the charges cannot be rendered invalid and can be amended and put again to the accused.
Murray and his wife are accused of defrauding the government of more than $1.1 million.
Murray faces 19 counts of official corruption while his wife faces 19 counts of false pretence.
These were for allegedly setting up a company in 2014, not long after Murray was appointed permanent secretary, and which received $1, 151,850 of public funds approved by Murray.
Sikua is facing seven counts of official corruption all of which he denied.
He was charged in relation to the allegation on 22 December 2016 for allegedly awarding government tenders worth $630,436.50 to Beeds Investment, a company registered and owned by his two daughters.
Kaius from Bougainville was charged with a restriction on making liquor under section 50 (2) of the Liquor Act and unlawful presence under the Immigration Act 2012.
She was arrested on 6 June this year for allegedly brewing Kwaso at Piru in West Guadalcanal and for illegally staying in the country.
Trial starts for public officer
TRIAL will commence this afternoon on the case of a public officer accused of stealing more than $28, 000 from the Government.
The accused, Enith Fairamoa, will be standing trial for a charge of larceny & embezzlement before e magistrate Tearo Beneteti.
Police alleged she stole more than $28, 000 when she was working as a Pay Roll Officer in the Ministry of Finance and Treasury.
Leslie Kwaiga of L & L Lawyers is representing Fairamoa while Police Prosecutor John Palmer is prosecuting.
No lawyer yet for IRD officer
MORE time has been given for the Inland Revenue Division officer facing corruption charges to look for a lawyer to represent him in court.
Leslie Melaba, who faces two counts of official corruption, appeared in the Honiara Magistrates’ Court on Monday and his matter further adjourned to October 6.
This was after he told the court he is yet to have a lawyer.
A warrant of arrest issued for him previously was also cancelled yesterday by Principal Magistrate Fatima Taeburi.
When asked why he failed to turn up in court on the day the warrant of arrest was issued for him, Melaba said he had issues at home.
He said as a result of the domestic issue, he had to stay back home and look after his very young kids.
Ms Taeburi having heard what Melaba said had the warrant of arrest cancelled but reminded Melaba not to miss court appearances.
She reminded Melaba that if he continues to skip his court appearances, his cash bail of $2,500 will be forfeited together with the surety bail of $1,000 plus he will be remanded in custody.
Melaba is the fourth person to be arrested by anti-corruption Taskforce Janus.
He was charged in relation to the allegations on 2 March 2016 and 18 March 2016 in Honiara on which he allegedly solicited discounts, payments and bribes in offering to unlawfully remit the Farmset Ltd tax liabilities.
Prosecution alleged on an unknown date this month, an Officer from the IRD began an audit of Farmset’s tax liabilities.
The Auditor advised the branch manager of Farmset Ltd to contact him or the accused if he has any queries in respect to the audit or its processes.
It was alleged that at this stage, the accused had taken a principal role in auditing process and had begun communicating directly with the Farmset Ltd branch manager.
Prosecution further alleged that the accused began contacting the branch manager making requests for money and goods.
“In particular, the accused began the solicitation of monies in lieu of tax remissions,” it was alleged.
On one occasion, it was alleged Melaba sought payment of $10,000 cash and persisted with telephone calls and emails making demands for money and goods.
In one of his emails, Melaba enquired about work boots stating his boss wants to buy 11 pairs of work boots and stated if the work boots are discounted he would only charge half of the Paye Tax he had assessed.
In the second email sent, he allegedly solicited a payment of $3,500 in lieu of the remittance of all tax penalties.
It was alleged that despite all these emails and telephone calls making demands for money and goods, Farmset Ltd did not accede to his demands.
