By TREVOR WAHUNE - The National
A STAY order on a warrant of arrest for former prime minister Peter O’Neill, pictured, has been extended because the State is yet to file affidavits in support of its submission to have the warrant executed.
The stay order was granted on Monday on Tuesday Oct 15 and the case adjourned to last Friday.
Justice Nicholas Miviri on Friday extended the order after Solicitor-General Tauvasa Tanuvasa failed to provide evidence to support his submission that O’Neill’s application to stay the arrest was an abuse of process.
Tanuvasa told Justice Miviri that O’Neill did not apply to the district court to stay the warrant because “before leave for judicial review was granted there was no interim injunctions to be granted before this court”.
He also submitted that the application for interim injunctions on O’Neill’s arrest was prematurely brought to court because it was filed as a civil proceeding although the matter was criminal in nature.
Tanuvasa also argued that the interim stay orders were not sought in O’Neill’s statement.
“There were only restraining orders. The plaintiff must plea the remedy they seek. Their orders were not pleaded in the first place,” he said.
But Tanuvasa did not cite relevant laws as evidence to his submissions when questioned by the court.
Justice Miviri said “the matter holds the liberty of a person on the line, and I need to be properly assisted”.
He told Tanuvasa that if the court was to lift the stay order, there should be laws before him to support that.
Meanwhile lawyer Greg Sheppard who appeared for O’Neill said his client was not given notice of the submissions raised by the state, and that the solicitor-general by having no evidence, might have no basis.
“The state had time to file evidence since the last sitting (Oct 21).”
Justice Miviri adjourned the matters to Oct 31.
Go to this link for more: https://www.thenational.com.pg/oneills-stay-order-extended/
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