Fiji, Dec. 5 -- Papua New Guinea's Electoral Commissioner Patilias Gamato spent last night in a cell at the Boroko police station after a court ordered that he be detained for breaching the conditions of his bail granted last month.

Magistrate Ernest Wilmot granted an application by the police prosecution to have that bail for K3,000 (US$882), granted on 18 Oct, forfeited because Gamato had subsequently interfered with three State witnesses.

"This court considers the breach extremely blatant. The accused is an office holder, an educated man and a man of higher regard," Wilmot said.

"The actions of the accused is to obviously intimidate and interfere. He exercised his powers to oppress those he saw as persons behind his arrest. These ac...