Watchdog condemns police assaults

Transparency International PNG strongly condemns Wednesday’s shooting by police.
Some University of PNG students were injured and hospitalised in Port Moresby.
Transparency chairman Lawrence Stephens said the country was being dragged into chaos by people who expected freedom from the law.
“Approaching with dangerous weapons and shooting at defenceless student protesters who were expressing their rights is simply unacceptable and disgraceful,” Stephens said.
He said that carrying lethal weapons displayed the willingness to kill and people needed to step up to the challenge of preventing such situations from starting.
“All too often we see weapons used by police in situations where it should not be used,” he said.
“We saw weapon abuse during the Hanuabada village shooting, at traffic roadblocks, during the betel nut ban enforcement around the city and in previous demonstrations by students,”  Stephens said.
He said there was lack of discipline on the use of weapons by the police force and cautioned the public and  students not to fall into the trap of being provoked.