Amnesty International has called for the immediate release of a refugee who has been rearrested and charged in Papua New Guinea while on trial after his attempt to seek asylum in Fiji.
Loghman Sawari, a 21-year-old Iranian refugee, was already facing charges after fleeing PNG on a false passport in January, when he was arrested on Tuesday.
The new charges are broader but nearly identical to those he was already facing – for making a false statement on a passport application – and were allegedly brought after prosecutors failed to provide a court with evidence requested for the original accusations.
Sawari was erroneously detained as a 17-year-old minor on Manus Island in 2013 after seeking asylum in Australia by boat. He was found to be a refugee by Papua New Guinean authorities and was released to settle in the community but soon found himself homeless on the streets of Lae. He also says he was assaulted by detention centre staff on Manus Island.
Earlier this year he fled to Fiji, where he told local media he faced persecution in PNG. He sought asylum and arranged a meeting with authorities. But before he reached the meeting the car he was in was stopped and he was bundled away to the airport and forcibly deported.
Upon return to PNG Sawari was arrested and charged. He was granted bail.
Sawari’s trial was adjourned last week to allow prosecutors time to gather their evidence but, according to reports received by Amnesty International, Sawari was on Tuesday leaving court after a hearing and surrounded by almost a dozen police officers, rearrested and remanded into custody.
“The charges are substantially similar to the existing charges and it just seems like a complete abuse of process to be doing this now,” said Kate Schuetze, Pacific researcher for Amnesty International.
“The charges are slightly different in the way the laws are framed but we’d argue this is an attempt at double jeopardy and does undermine the right to a fair trial.”
Sawari was on bail over the first set of charges and had been complying with all requirements, Amnesty said. It has called for his immediate and unconditional release, noting he will have to wait upwards of 10 days for a new bail hearing.
“It really is starting to look like a witch hunt, with him as a scapegoat for the passport officials stuffing up,” Schuetze said.
She said the new charges appeared to be an attempt to circumvent Sawari’s bail release and to keep him in custody. “Our major concerns are for his welfare and medical treatments because he does have a number of physical and mental ailments,” she said. “Police don’t seem to be taking his medical condition seriously, so that’s a really serious concern of ours.”
Sawari’s rearrest comes as PNG ramps up its deportations of detainees.
A Lebanese man has allegedly resisted deportation and is being held in a police cell in Lorengau. The man, Azzam el Sheik, claimed in a video he was being denied medication for injuries sustained while resisting. He believed he had broken ribs.
According to the Kurdish Iranian refugee and journalist, Behrouz Boochani, several Lebanese and Bangladeshi detainees have returned or been deported to their home country in recent weeks. US officials are also on site this week, continuing screening under a deal struck between the Australian government and the Obama administration to resettle some refugees.
