MTCC Courtroom: Pokemon Go players to be slapped with contempt

Judge Yvonne Cabaron Artiaga posts a warning to Pokemon Go players not to play in her courtroom. (CDN PHOTO/IZOBELLE T. PULGO)

POKEMON hunters, beware.

Hunting down Pokemons inside the courtroom of Judge Yvonne Cabaron Artiaga of Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MTCC) Branch 3 is strictly prohibited.

Violators will either be fined or jailed. The court can also opt to confiscate the gadget if the owner is caught playing inside the courtroom while in session.

A handwritten warning was posted on her office door said, “Lawyers and Litigants: There is no Pokemon in my chamber. I will use to the full extent my contempt power for any Pokemon related disturbance. Knock at your own risk,” the warning read.

Another warning posted on the podium inside her courtroom read: “Under pain of contempt, Pokemon catching inside the court is strictly prohibited.

Justice may be blind but it can see Pokemon catchers. Violators will face fine and imprisonment.”

The judge issued the warnings after she noticed on Tuesday that people inside the courtroom were tinkering with their mobile phones and appeared to be “catching something” while the court was in session.

Pokemon Gois an augmented reality Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) game that allows players to capture, trade and battle virtual creatures called pocket monsters (Pokemon) in the real world.

It is played on mobile devices that have GPS and Internet connection.

Even the courtrooms are not sacred to the players.

Judge Artiaga found it distracting that people in her courtroom were tinkering with their phones during court hearings.

It also affected the solemnity of the court proceedings, she added.

Artiaga said she would not hesitate to use the contempt powers of the court if she found anyone distracting the proceedings.