Supreme Court Judge Benard Sakora arrested and charged

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

Meanwhile, the fraud and anti-corruption squad also picked up   Prime Minister Peter O'Neill's lawyer Ms Tiffany Twivey  at the Jackson International Airport  after she arrived from Brisbane this afternoon. She was not arrested  but was being interviewed in relation to the many legal applications she had made to prevent them executing their arrest warrant for the Prime Minister Peter O'Neill.

RNZ/ PNG Today