Student leaders’ lawyer challenges provocative UPNG ban
03 September 2016
PETER S KINJAP
A LAWYER representing banned students at the University of Papua New Guinea, Laken Aigilol, will challenge the UPNG Administration termination decision in court.
"I will look at seeking the Court's mercy to stay the exclusion and review this decision,” Mr Aigilol said.
Mr Aigilol himself is being sued by UPNG for contempt of court for aiding the students in a case that will be heard on 13 September.
“It will be a mammoth task defending myself and the student leaders," he said.
The UPNG Administration permanently excluded 60 Student Representative Council members and student leaders, including a number of women, who in June led strike action against prime minister Peter O'Neill.
They have been deregistered from studies and have been permanently banned from studying at UPNG.
During the protests, police shot into a crowd of students, wounding more than 20 people.
In a letter to the excluded students, Professor Mange Matui claimed the UPNG Administration had credible evidence that they had been involved in student unrest and boycott.
“Based on the reports I have received, and after careful considerations of relevant evidences and circumstances,” Prof Matui wrote, “you have breached all laws of PNG, including the Criminal Code Act and the Summary Offences Act.
“You are hereby excluded permanently from the University of Papua New Guinea.”
UPNG - the premier university in the Pacific? That must be a joke.
I was born and raised on the UPNG campus and observed its steady decay over three decades. I attended UPNG and know intimately how dysfunctional it has become.
The sad reality is that there are academic and non-academic staff who try to do their best for the students.
UPNG's current poor status as an institution of higher learning is not an indication of their ability, but rather the result of consistently poor funding and support from the government of Papua New Guinea.
UPNG is a shadow of its former glory, its administration haunted by ghouls and a nursery of free thinkers guarded by trolls.
People who think the UPNG administration's decision is correct are the result.
There is no reasonable justification for permanently suspending the students, i.e., within the spirit of democratic governance and the true spirit of the law for which administrative regulations are mere guard posts.
Posted by: Michael Dom | 03 September 2016 at 04:21 PM
You reap what you sow. University education in PNG is a privilege. Not everybody is fortunate to secure a place. So humble ourselves, do not intimidate others, do not play politics and concentrate on your studies. UPNG is the premier university in the Pacific; do not tarnish its name.
Posted by: Mike Yapis | 03 September 2016 at 09:07 AM
Last week Enga Governor Grand Chief Sir Peter Ipatas was telling parents of Enga students attending the University of Technology in Lae to contribute K1,000 and one pig each to pay compensation for the Mendi student killed on campus.
Some parents agreed to pay the compensation while others said they must wait the outcome of the court case against the three student suspects in police custody. Still others said he, Govenor Ipatas, and Peter O'Neill should pay the because the issue was a national issue.
Now this news about the UPNG council banning the 60 students because they 'breached all laws of PNG, including the Criminal Code Act and the Summary Offences Act.'
The way the University of Goroka administration organised the recent reconciliation ceremony was accepted by all parties. Genuine tears flowed from all parties concerned.
The UPNG Council should reconsider its stance, accept the 60 students back and hold another peace ceremony involving all stakeholders.
After all this is PNG where laws are broken, tribal fights are fought, compensation is paid and former enemies walk side by side again.
Posted by: Daniel Kumbon | 03 September 2016 at 08:56 AM