A young Iranian refugee who fled Papua New Guinea to seek asylum in Fiji has had charges against him thrown out of court in Port Moresby.
The 21-year-old man, Loghman Sawari, had been resettled in the PNG community after about three years in the Manus Island detention centre. He left PNG on a false passport in January, arriving in Fiji with the intention of seeking asylum from alleged persecution in PNG.
However, while on the way to a meeting with immigration officials, he was detained and forcibly deported back to PNG, where he was arrested by authorities and charged over using a false passport.
On Tuesday the charges against him were dismissed by the Waigani district court, which found the prosecution had failed to provide sufficient evidence there was a case for Sawari to answer.
“They were relying on testimony from Loghman when he didn’t have a lawyer present,” said Amnesty International’s Pacific researcher, Kate Schuetze.
“I think the court has made the right decision in that regard but we’re still waiting to hear the outcome of other charges.”
Tuesday’s verdict was largely expected and thought to have contributed to a controversial decision to rearrest Sawari for the same alleged act and lay similar but broader charges against him.
That arrest occurred as Sawari left a hearing on 4 April during which the prosecution had reportedly been told to produce further evidence for its original case against him.
Earlier this month Schuetze said the rearrest appeared to be a “witch hunt” and a clear abuse of legal process.
Despite having been granted bail on the first set of charges, Sawari was detained at Waigani police station for 10 days. He was granted bail last Thursday by a judge who also indicated the second round of charges could amount to a form of double jeopardy.
“I just want my freedom because Australia and PNG immigration put me in big risk,” Sawari said.
Sawari was erroneously detained as a 17-year-old minor on Manus Island in 2013 after seeking asylum in Australia by boat. He has claimed he was assaulted by detention centre staff on Manus Island.
Papua New Guinean authorities determined he was a refugee and he was released from detention into the PNG community. However, he soon found himself homeless on the streets of Lae.
.png?w=600)
