| Home > South Pacific & Oceania >> Papua New Guinea | |
Australian lawyer Jay Williams, who represents Manus Island asylum seekers, deported from PNG again
ABC Radio Australia - April 1, 2014
Sydney barrister Jay Williams flew back to Port Moresby on Sunday, two days after he was first deported from PNG.
Mr Williams was detained by immigration officials at the airport, guarded by police at a hotel overnight, then put on a plane back to Cairns yesterday morning.
Mr Williams is representing 75 detainees on Manus Island. He had sought to appear in court to ask that several of his clients, who say they witnessed the murder of Iranian asylum seeker Reza Berati during a riot at the centre, be placed into protective custody.
Mr Williams was first deported on Friday after being ejected from the Manus Island centre despite having a court order granting him access. The PNG government says Mr Williams was deported because he does not have a certificate to practice law in PNG.
"What it means is that if you're an admitted lawyer but don't have a current practising certificate for 2014, you cannot practise law in this country," attorney-general Kerenga Kua said last week.
The court order had been granted by PNG National Court judge David Cannings. Justice Cannings set up a human rights inquiry in March to examine the conditions of asylum seekers at the Australian facility.
The PNG government put the inquiry on hold on March 21 after it obtained a stay order from the Supreme Court. Justice Cannings responded by initiating a new inquiry. The PNG government is now seeking to appeal against Justice Cannings's refusal to disqualify himself from the inquiry over allegations of bias.
See also:
 |