Papua New Guinea's police chief charged with contempt

Papua New Guinea's (PNG) Police Commissioner Gari Baki has been charged with contempt for interfering with and preventing the execution of an arrest warrant for Secretary of Treasury Dairi Vale, local media reported on Monday.

Vale's arrest warrant, issued in July, is related to the payment of 50 million Kina (17.78 million U.S. dollars) to an Israeli company for the purchase of two diesel turbine power generators.

The purchase was allegedly requested by Prime Minister Peter O' Neill to alleviate PNG's power shortages.

A source inside the police department told Xinhua on Monday that Baki is due to appear in court on Aug. 12.

Baki becomes the third police commissioner in just over two years to be caught up in the ongoing investigations by the PNG anti-fraud squad.

Critics claim the investigations are politically motivated.

In June, PNG's Supreme Court found former Police Commissioner Geoffrey Vaki in contempt of court for failing to execute an arrest warrant on PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill for alleged corruption.

The warrant for O'Neill's arrest was obtained in June 2014 by fraud investigators over allegations he had authorized the siphoning of millions of dollars in public cash to a local law firm.

O'Neill is currently challenging the validity of the warrant in the courts.

PNG's anti-corruption watchdog chairman Sam Koim said the decision had vindicated the court's authority.

"To my knowledge, three years is the highest penalty for contempt ever in this jurisdiction. This is how serious the court has treated the police commissioner's refusal to execute the warrant of arrest on (the prime minister)," Koim said.