BY ROMINAH FAKA
Trial against three people charged with arson and assault causing actual bodily harm will continue today for defence counsel to cross-examine of the prosecution witness number one.
Prosecution charged Saverio Mate, 25, Lency Raga, 40, and John Longatabo, 28, jointly with
two counts of arson and one count of assault causing actual bodily harm.
They pleaded not guilty to all charges and trial
Prosecution will call three witnesses.
First witness, the complainant, told court about the incident and the accused’s involvement in
the alleged arson on his dwelling house.
The second witness is the wife of the complainant. Her evidence will corroborate with the complainant’s evidence as to what actually happened prior, during and after the incident.
The third witness is another complainant who will also tell the court what happened on October 12,
2022 with assault incident and who assaulted him.
Prosecution case on October 12, 2022, between 12 noon and 12 midnight, at Kakalu village, the
three accused with groups of men and women headed to the complainant property and set fire to two of his dwelling houses.
Prosecution state that the fire was no accident. It was a deliberate act, intentionally set by
one of the accused Mate with the assistance of another two accused Raga and Longatabo.
The accused used matches and dried sago palm leaf to burn two dwelling house belongs to the
complainant.
Also, crown case state on the same day, the accused assault the second complainant as the assault was related to the matter of burning of the complainant house.
Office of public prosecution represent the crown and PSO represent the defence.
