Papua New Guinea's National Court in Wabag, Enga Province,...

Papua New Guinea's National Court in Wabag, Enga Province, imposed the death penalty on Kepaka Langa, a 28-year-old man, after finding him guilty of wilfully murdering a pastor's son in an ambush in 2002. On sentencing the convict, Justice Moses Jalina said it would serve as a warning to a province known for tribal wars and payback killings.
It was alleged that Langa, of Samagares village near Wabag, and two others from the Kandaunkin tribe had attacked Pastor Daniel Hopa's family in 2002 at Keas village in Wabag.
The judge noted that Langa and his two accomplices, who were still at large, had planned the ambush as means of payback for the 2002 killing of Tonde Langa at Imia village, also outside Wabag.
After weighing the arguments by the counsel representing Langa, Justice Jalina rejected the plea for a lighter sentence. He said the court appreciated that the warring Guapin and Kandaukin clans had made peace and that compensation would be paid. It was a good example which other warring clans must follow, but the peaceful re-settlement had nothing to do with the case before him, he said.
Justice Jalina told Langa that he could appeal against his sentence to the Supreme Court within 14 days.
Immediately after the sentence, John Daniel's widow, Dianh Daniel, indicated that she was relieved that justice had at last been done. Langa's relatives wept, with some of them vowing revenge.