Madang Committal court

Police prosecutions, on Wednesday 1^st June, made a submission to court to withdraw the case, while lawyers representing Yama and the 15, made a submission to dismiss the case. That same afternoon, the court moved to make the ruling on Friday, and did so by ordering the case be withdrawn.

Governor Yama and several others were arrested and charged last year on separate charges.

The submission was made after police legal representative filed an application on the same day to have the case withdrawn under Section 61A, Sub-section (1) of the District Court Act, and Section 192 of the Constitution.

The application to withdraw the case came about after lawyers representing Yama argued that the search warrant used to search and find evidence to make arrests on the suspects, was invalid.

Magistrate Alex Kalandi told the five that their plea will be taken at a later date when they appear again in the same court. Magistrate Kalandi, then ordered that the five remain in custody. He said if they want to apply for bail, they can apply at the national court.

According to the Police report read out in court, it was alleged that on Tuesday 24 May at around 8am, the five were alleged to have been involved in the death of Dugul, an employee of Fortune Investment Supermarket.

They appeared before Magistrate Alex Kalandi at 1:30pm to argue the search warrant that was used in their arrest.

Lawyers representing the group argued that the search warrant used by the police was defective because on October 30, 2021 the Madang District Court stayed the search warrant, preventing police from continuing their investigation.

The lawyers argued that despite this stay order, police went ahead and carried out the search, which eventually led to arrests being made.