The conduct of Police personnel based at the Banz Police Station in Jiwaka Province will come under inquiry next month following the death of a detainee in May.
The Mt Hagen National Court will conduct an open court inquiry next month on the treatment of detainees and the condition of the cell at the Banz Police Station.
Justice Goodwin Poole will head the investigation, which will run for 10 days at the Mt Hagen National Court house, starting on Oct 6.
He explained that the inquiry is now being set up after cases brought before him in the National Court’s criminal jurisdiction noted, amongst other things, detainees being beaten up, including two deaths so far.
The probe is under section 57 of the constitution and will specifically look into the condition of detainees who have been held at the Banz Police Station from Jan 1, 2014.
This comes after two detainees, who were locked up at the police station, died from injuries inflicted during confinement on Feb 15, 2015, and May 25, respectively.
The National Court in Mt Hagen also noted that detainees in the police station holding cells have been denied their rights to communicate with other relatives while being held in an overcrowded area.
(Justice Goodwin Poole)