PNG Supreme Court judge arrested, charged with corruption

7:27 pm on 11 April 2016

A Supreme Court judge in Papua New Guinea has been arrested and charged with corruption.

The Papua New Guinea Supreme Court.

The Papua New Guinea Supreme Court Photo: RNZ / Johnny Blades

Bernard Sakora was arrested by members of the country's fraud and anti-corruption squad as he left his Port Moresby home on Monday morning.

After several hours of questioning, Mr Sakora was charged with one count of judicial corruption.

In a brief statement, the police said the charge was related to a payment Mr Sakora received from a lawyer at the centre of the scandal surrounding alleged illegal payments to the firm Paraka Lawyers.

It said Mr Sakora then failed to declare his interest, and presided over a number of Supreme Court cases involving Paraka Lawyers, including that involving an arrest warrant for the prime minister, Peter O'Neill.

Mr Sakora has denied the charges.

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