Pacific / Papua New Guinea

PNG's largest-ever sorcery-related case adjourned

07:37 am on 29 May 2017

The trial of 122 people accused of wilful murder in Papua New Guinea's largest-ever sorcery-related case has been adjourned.

Judge David Cannings adjourned the case until the 13th of July so the state and the defence can submit further final submissions.

The 122 people are accused of raiding a village and murdering seven people, including two children, who they accused of practising sorcery in 2014.

Last week, the defence argued that the state has given conflicting names and couldn't identify those it had picked out.

But the prosecution said all the accused were involved as they had a common purpose and intent when charging on the village with weapons.

The Post Courier reports Justice Cannings said the submissions presented by both sides last week weren't detailed enough, and ordered them both to gather more details.