Students were at fault: Baki

National
Source:
The National,Thursday June 9th, 2016

POLICE Commissioner Gari Baki says the confrontation between University of Papua New Guinea students and police yesterday outside the Waigani campus was a result of the students not adhering to instructions from police.
“They came out onto the road and prevented the police to perform their duties which resulted in this incident that has taken place and it is unfortunate that students have been injured in the course of this incident,” Baki said in a statement yesterday.
“They were told to go back into the university campus by the Met Supt but they refused thus resulting in the confrontation.”
He said had the students remained in the campus, the incident would not have happened.
He said police had fired tear gas to disperse the students but it was too early to say whether the injuries sustained by the students were from the gun shots fired by police.
“At this point of time, it would be premature for me to say that the injuries are results of the police directly firing at the students. I want to see the medical reports that come out of the hospital to say what the nature of the injuries are then I will confirm to the media as to what has transpired, so that you can appreciate as to the nature of the injuries that have been sustained by our students,” Baki said.
He said if medical reports confirmed that the students were shot by police then internal investigations would be carried out.
“I am not protecting the actions of my men. What I am saying here is this, if there are students injured, there are requirements, the police have a process that is involved in any incident that results in injuries that may be sustained, then we will back-track on the injuries that have been reported to also try and inter-relate as to whether they have been injured as a result of the firearm being used or any other injuries,” Baki said.