Manam Resettlement funds

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The submission was made after police legal representative filed an application on the same day to have the case withdrawn under Section 61A, Sub-section (1) of the District Court Act, and Section 192 of the Constitution.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

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.