Papua New Guinea bans student protests after violent clash

In this photo provided by Staycey Yalo, 34-year-old Esther Was bleeds from a head wound suffered during a student protest Wednesday, June 8, 2016, in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Police fired gunshots to quell the protest demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, the government said. AP

SYDNEY — The University of Papua New Guinea has obtained a court order banning student protesters from further demonstrations following a violent scuffle with police, as officials on Thursday tried to piece together what happened during a clash that left scores of students wounded.

The injunction from the National Court restricts the students involved in Wednesday’s confrontation from boycotting classes and barricading or locking classrooms in protest.

The court order was issued after police fired gunshots to quell a student protest in the South Pacific nation’s capital, Port Moresby. The students have been demanding for weeks that Prime Minister Peter O’Neill resign because of alleged corruption and mismanagement.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the situation in Port Moresby remained volatile on Thursday, and that Australia had offered Papua New Guinea help to stem further unrest.

“We are calling for calm. Obviously, lawful and peaceful protests should be allowed,” Bishop told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio. “The police response should at all times be proportionate.”

READ: Police, students clash in Papua New Guinea; deaths reported

The government denied initial reports students had been killed in the scuffle, but acknowledged several people had been injured.

The exact number of protesters who were hurt was unclear. O’Neill said five people had been injured; the country’s police commissioner, citing information from local hospitals, said 23 were hurt, five critically; and Amnesty International said 38 people were injured, four critically.

Both sides blamed each other. O’Neill said he was told a small group of students became violent, threw rocks at police and “provoked a response that came in the form of tear gas and warning shots.” Protesters said they had done nothing to prompt aggression from police and accused the officers of firing directly at students.

“The shooting of students peacefully protesting is reminiscent of the worst excesses of repressive regimes in the region,” Rafendi Djamin, Amnesty International’s director for South East Asia and the Pacific, said in a statement. “Papua New Guinea’s authorities must establish a prompt, impartial and independent investigation to determine who is responsible for the unnecessary and excessive use of force.”

O’Neill said an investigation was underway, though it was unclear who would be in charge of the inquiry.

Staycey Yalo, a journalism student at the university, said she and the other protesters encountered a line of police officers blocking them when they tried to march to Parliament. The police demanded they hand over the student president. When the protesters said no, an argument broke out, she said.

“They threw tear gas and amidst the smoke, they started shooting directly at the students,” Yalo told The Associated Press by telephone. “That’s when we all ran.”

Police in vehicles began chasing after the protesters, with officers firing from their cars at fleeing students, Yalo said.