District Court dismiss case against refugee

The Waigani District Court has dismissed a case against Iranian refugee Loghman Sawari.

Magistrate Mekeo Gauli dismissed the case after lunch today because he was of the view that police prosecution did not prove it's case for the refugee to answer to.

He said a constitutional breach occurred during Sawari's arrest on February 3 because he was not accorded his rights under section 42 of the PNG Constitution before he was questioned for a recorded interview.

The passport which was used by Sawari to travel to Fiji on  January 20, 2017 was also not produced in evidence before court. This passport was vital in police prosecution's case.

Magistrate Gauli accepted Sawari's application that was put to court by his lawyer that he had no case to answer to because prosecution failed to establish the essential elements in his charge.That is, he produced false statements, either orally or written statements and obtained a PNG Passport.

The PNG Passport he used to travel to Fiji was not produced in court because it was left in Fiji.

The court also noted that section 16 (1)(a) of the Passport Act alone does not create an offense unless sub-section 1 (b) of section 16 is added to the charge.

 The 21-year-old was arrested and charged on Feb 3 for providing false information for the purpose of obtaining a PNG passport from the PNG Immigration and Citizen Services Authority, a charge that falls under section 16 (1) of the Passport Act of 1982.

The PNG man who is alleged to have assisted Sawari obtain that PNG Passport has not been located.

The court dismissed the information charging Sawari, ordering a refund of his K1,000 Boroko District Bail monies.

On April 4, Sawari was arrested and charged under the Migration Act. For this second case, he is expected back in court on May 1.

 

Loop PNG file picture of Sawari.

Author: 
Sally Pokiton