UPNG SRC 2016

Court throws out students’ case

Filed in the Human Rights track of the Waigani National Court, the case sought a declaration of the court to nullify the purported students reaffirmation form, which the UPNG administration issued to them to sign when the suspension of semester one was lifted.

Justice David Cannings dismissed the case last Friday for want of prosecution after the SRC showed no interest in the case. Neither their lawyer, Laken Lepatu, nor the former president Kenneth Rapa had been appearing in court for the matter since June.

Termination of student leaders not a solution for peace at UPNG: Polye

Polye said the reasons the university council gave to justify their termination were shallow, adding the justifications are the subject of the current investigation.

“Termination is not an appropriate tool to restore peace and order at the campus.

“The government deserves to be terminated by the people and not the students,” he said.

Polye, a former student leader, said the boycott of class was decided by the majority and not individuals with vested interests.

Court refuses students' applications

Justice David Cannings heard the application this afternoon and refused the order sought.

The students went to court through their lawyer seeking to restrain UPNG Registrar Jennifer Popat and the university administration enforcing that the students’ sign the reaffirmation form.

Justice Cannings refused the order sought saying the case was not strong enough to warrant an injunction to be issued.

He instead set a hearing date for a trial next week Wednesday at 3pm.

​Students’ fight not over, says lawyer

Speaking to the media outside the Waigani Court house, Laken Lepatu Aigilo said: “Let me put to the nation that this does not mean that the fight is over. We will look into other means if it means to draft separate proceedings, we will do so. We will look into how we can seek justice.”

He made these statements after the National Court refused orders from a human rights case that was moved this morning.

​Government must also be subject to CoI, says Rapa

Rapa was referring to the CoI that the Government plans to carry out to find out the reason behind the students’ prolonged unrest as well as their financiers.

“On behalf of the UPNG students, I embrace the decision of the Government to form a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the issue,” he said in a statement. However, they will only accept the decision on the following terms: