Soldiers not involved in family’s eviction: Officer

 A MILITARY officer says soldiers were not involved in the eviction of a family from a property in Port Moresby last Tuesday.

Defence Force chief of joint operations Wenzel Ezekias said there was no “joint operation” with police as claimed. He said there was no call-out by the Commissioner of Police sanctioned by the National Executive Council to enable the soldiers to conduct such operation. 

“There is no authorised operation in support of police,” he said.

The tenants of the property had told the media that 10 soldiers were involved in the eviction with police officers. They also claimed that military police officers arrived and ordered the soldiers to return to their barracks. 

Public solicitor Jim Wala Tamate said he had written to Port Moresby Metropolitan Superintendent Benjamin Turi on behalf of the tenants, to say the eviction was illegal.

Turi had also denied that the police officers were acting on a court order to evict the tenants. “The soldiers were relatives of the complainant, who were there to observe the eviction.  However, the public misinterpreted the soldiers’ presences and called the military police.

“The military police came and confirmed that the soldiers were not involved with the police in the eviction of the tenants so they left”.

Turi also denied receiving Tamate’s letter.