The director of the Bureau of Marine Resources is facing criminal charges for allegedly beating up a staff employee during work hours on April 18. Leon Remengesau, the younger brother of President Tommy E. Remengesau Jr., pleaded not guilty to six felony charges during his arraignment on Thursday, May 11. He was charged with assault in the second degree, terroristic threatening in the first degree, misconduct in public office, bribery of witness and two counts of intimidating

Koror, Palau — “It’s relaxing,” Jack (not his real name) says, puffing weed in his porch. The odor of marijuana smoke wafts in the neighborhood, but no one frowns. The neighbors seem used to it. “No, it’s not addictive. I can go on for days, even months, without smoking and I don’t get any withdrawal symptoms,” Jack says. A longtime pot smoker, Jack says this recreation doesn’t exactly hurt his pocket. “You can buy a stick for $5.” Anyone who smokes pot in Palau knows where

The Special Prosecutor’s office, on Sept. 27, filed three counts of criminal charges against sitting Ngarchelong State Governor Browny Salvador. Salvador faces one count of theft of government property in the first degree, one count of misconduct in public office and one count of criminal violation of the code of ethics for allegedly unlawfully increasing his salary without appropriate changes to the law. A resolution by the Legislature of the Seventh Ngarchelong State Assemb

Clifton Kloulubak was sentenced to 25 in prison for the murder of Kenneth Koshiba after Palau Supreme Associate Justice Lourdes Materne accepted a guilty plea order on Sept 6. He was one of the men originally charged in the crime. The death of Koshiba in October of last year rocked Palau as the first gun-related killing since 1988 suicide of president Lazarus Salii, who shot himself in the head with a pistol. Koshiba was repeatedly shot with a gas-powered air rifle and pellet

Minister of Finance Elbuchel Sadang has been summoned by the Supreme Court to answer to a single criminal charge related to a car accident where he allegedly damaged a government vehicle. Special Prosecutor Steven Killelea filed Criminal Case No. 16-095 against Minister Sadang on June 16th charging him with one count of reckless driving, a misdemeanor crime with a jail sentence of up to 30 days or fine of no more than $100, for reportedly wrecking a government vehicle. Accord

Private school teacher and longtime educator Miriam Anastacio has been charged with assault in the second degree and child abuse for allegedly “physically disciplining” her 7-year old 2nd grade student on Wed, May 4 in campus at Maris Stella School. Anastacio, a retired public school educator allegedly “disciplined” the 7-year old girl multiple times with wooden rulers and yard sticks in her classroom filled with students until the school bell rang for the day. Her discipline

After issuing an island-wide alert and putting in place a police team that has spent countless number of hours looking for an alleged escaped prisoner, the Bureau of Public Safety has suspended the search and issued a mea culpa statement and a public apology to Arnold Milong for the error. Human error is attributed to the calculation of jail time which lead the police to rule that he has escaped. “We have discovered that thru human error in the calculation of jail time of whi