Father and son free from death sentence

A father and son from Kait village, Konoagil in New Ireland Province will be freed from the Kerevat Correction institute after they successfully appealed against their conviction and sentence.

From West Coast Namatanai, the Former Konoagil local level government president Selman Emos and son, Misialis were on death row when they appealed against the sentence.

A five-man Supreme Court bench upheld their appeal, setting aside the conviction and acquitted them from the murder charges they stood trial over.

Chairman of the bench, Justice Les Gavara-Nanu ordered for the discharge of the pair once they are transferred back to Kerevat. The decision on appeal were handed down in Waigani.

The pair stood trial over allegations they wilfully murdered three people on 31 July 2008 at Kokopo. They allegedly did so by murdering them and dumping the bodies among mangroves.

The court heard that the boat they travelled in that day, encountered engine problems after it left Kokopo for Namatanai, when the alleged incident took place.

They were convicted and sentence to death on 14 December 2012.  They appealed against the conviction and sentence.

The full court in giving its decision on their appeals found that the trial judge had made errors in his decision to convict them by relying on circumstantial or indirect evidence that was fabricated by an accomplice who gave evidence for the state.

They found various errors were committed when finding Selman and Misialis guilty. In fact, evidence was put in court during the trial that Selman swam to a beach and was found by locals in his underwear, with burns on his body.

A warrant for their release will be made when they return to Kerevat.

Author: 
Sally Pokiton