A GROUP of millionaire businessmen from Europe fled to Cairns, Australia from Wewak after Police and PNG Defence Force soldiers in Wewak accused them of being terrorists who had planned to assassinate royal visitor Prince Richard.
But PNG Defence Force officials in Wewak contacted yesterday denied this and referred all questions relating to the incident to police.
The group of businessman fled in a private jet they had hired for the trip.
The pilot Jorn Heilberg told the Cairns Post newspaper the group was stopped at gunpoint at a road block in Wewak and held under machine-gun guard for more than 24 hours.
The group of six had previously been met by armed police and soldiers as their jet landed but were released after more than three hours of questioning.
It is understood the group were questioned about whether they had the authority to land the aircraft in PNG, and whether they had visas to enter the country.
In Wewak, they were stopped at a roadblock.
“We were on our way back from visiting a war memorial when we approached a road block with one truck full of military soldiers and another full of police,” Mr Heilberg said.
“They were very aggressive; they confiscated our passports and electronic equipment and took us to our hotel, where they searched us and our rooms.”
Mr Heilberg said their small hotel was surrounded by up to 15 soldiers wielding machine guns as officers searched their belongings.
The group’s passports, cameras and laptops were confiscated.
“Then they took us to the police station and questioned us individually,” he said.
“One of the officers said to me, ‘I’m going to take you in my car so you can show me where the bomb is’.
“They were paranoid and accused us of planting a bomb to kill the Duke of  Gloucester.
They took our phones because one of the officers said that mobiles are the best way to trigger a bomb.”
Mr Heilberg said officers accused the group of being “state sponsored terrorists and mercenaries” who were in PNG to assassinate the Duke of Gloucester Prince Richard, the Queen’s first cousin.
Prince Richard is on a five-day visit to the country to celebrate the 50th anniversary of St John Ambulance in PNG and meet government officials.
“Eventually, when they decided not to lock us up, they got rid of us instead,” Mr Heilberg said.
On Tuesday afternoon, another member of the group was escorted under armed guard to a bank to withdraw money to pay for their plane’s fuel.
Police told the group the Australian High Commission fast-tracked a flight plan so they could immediately leave the country and land at Cairns International Airport.
The group of IT entrepreneurs and investors from across Europe are on a round-the-world adventure holiday in a single-engine Pilatus PC-12.