March 29, 2004: Papua New Guinea (PNG) is looking at the possibility of adopting death penalty laws used in Singapore. Recently, a delegation led by the Justice Minister and chairman of the Judicial and Legal Services Commission, Mark Maipakai, visited Singapore to study the necessary laws and their practical application. Models of Singapore and Malaysia were chosen for study as PNG believes their judicial and executive processes play an important role in the context of the death penalty.

Under current laws, the death penalty in PNG is applicable for treason, piracy, attempted piracy with personal violence, wilful murder and sedition. Mr Maipakai said that the death penalty was clearly defined in the country's Criminal Code Act and the Defence Force Act. He added though that administration mechanism for implementing the penalty, such as the place of execution, the construction of the structure to hang and who was to be the executioner were issues which hadn´t been clearly resolved.

Meanwhile, it was reported that on March 29 that Ben Simakot, a man convicted of raping a mother and then bludgeoning her and her two-year-old son to death with an iron bar, was sentenced to death in Vanimo. In sentencing 29-year-old Simakot, Justice Amberg Kandakasi said he took into account the views of Vanimo residents who apparently gave support to the death penalty. The court heard that Simakut went to Francesca Kame Menapol's poultry farm at Yuiil village on 19 July 2002 to ask for a chicken, promising to pay later. When Francesca refused, Simakut pushed her to the ground and raped her in front of her son. After he had had his way, he picked up an iron rod and hit Francesca repeatedly until she died. He then attacked the boy, killing him as well. Justice Kandakasi said sentencing offenders was a community responsibility. "It is necessary to consider input from the community," he said, but added that their views were not binding on the court. The Probation Service had conducted the survey which showed that 70 per cent of those interviewed wanted the death penalty to be applied, 20 per cent chose life sentence, while 10 per were opposed to the death penalty in the case.

Source: Hands Off Cain