A refugee who has been battling with the Office of the Immigrations and Citizenship Authority has filed another court proceeding to summon the Acting Chief Migration Officer (ACMO), Wellington Navasivu to appear in Court for the recent charges laid against him.
Masum Mozumder, a refugee who had laid formal complaints against Navasivu, says he did not drop the charges against the accused.
He said he was shocked to learn from one of the daily newspapers that the Police Commissioner dropped all the charges and cited reasons that the matter is before the court.
Lawyer representing Mozumder, Solomon Wanis said the case before the court between Immigrations and his client was an appeal filed against the Court’s decision to grant his client Refugee status.
He said that appeal, was however withdrawn by the state on Monday (22nd July 2024).
Following the Court’s decision in December 2023 to grant full refugee status to Mozumder, he initiated the process to have the Acting Chief Migration Officer arrested for deprivation of liberty.
On the 9th of July, Navasivu was arrested and charged at the Boroko Police Station for;
– Unlawful Detention
– Attempt to pervert the course of justice and
– Abuse of Office.
He was later released on his “own recognizance” by NCD Metropolitan Superintendent Commander, Silva Sika.
“Own recognizance” is a legal term referring to a type of release that does not require the defendant to post bail and is based on a written promise by the defendant to appear in court when summoned.
It is alleged that Navasivu, as the Deputy Chief Migration Officer in charge of Compliance and Enforcement Division with PNG Immigrations and Citizenship Authority signed a detention notice dated 15th August 2023, for Mozumder, a Bangladeshi refugee to be detained and deported.
His actions allegedly defied court orders that were on foot pending the determination of the December decision.
Following this arrest, Navasivu’s office released a brief explaining that “he signed the approval to detain the Bangladeshi man in compliance with the Migration Act and ICA’s duty to protect our community from non-citizens who can cause harm to our community”.
Since the arrest of Navasivu, the matter is yet to appear before the committal court in Waigani for arraignment.
Wanis said it seems police have shelved the case, therefore they are asking the court to intervene.
On behalf of his client, he is seeking the court’s orders to compel the Police Commissioner and the Arresting Officer, Mr Philip Otto who are both named as the 2nd and 3rd Defendants respectively, to bring Navasivu (1st Defendant) to face the charges against him.
Mr Wanis pointed out that section 37 (3) of the Constitution states “A person charged with an offence shall, unless the charge is withdrawn, be afforded a fair hearing within a reasonable time, by an independent and impartial court.
He also pointed out Section 55 of the District Court Act, where it states “A person taken into custody for an offence shall be brought before a Court or a Magistrate as soon as practicable after he is taken into custody.
Files were served to all the defendants on Wednesday (25th July, 2024).