PNG PM's show of force as prosecutor suspended

Papua New Guinea's police prosecutor has been suspended after he publicly called on Prime Minister Peter O'Neill to answer questions on fraud allegations.

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Thomas Eluh (right). (Photo: PNG Loop)

The suspension of Thomas Eluh follows comments he made in a media statement yesterday when he said the country's criminal justice system is facing a serious crisis.

He says he is not surprised by Prime Minister's move to suspend him.

"I knew it was coming because I was adamant and I was upfront to make sure that the rule of law must prevail irrespective of who you are, whether you're the prime minister or the tea boy or (whatever) your status in the community," he told the ABC.

The nation's anti-corruption watchdog, Task Force Sweep, on Monday said it had new evidence linking Mr O'Neill to an ongoing corruption saga in the Pacific Island nation.

Mr O'Neill has since avoided arrest, disbanded Sweep and sacked attorney-general Kerenga Kua as well as deputy police commissioner Simon Kauba.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Peter O'Neill has again defended his decision not to meet police fraud investigators, saying there is no basis for the police warrant issued against him.

"It is not a warrant where we need to just turn up and be interviewed and assess the evidence before you and whether charges can be laid or not. So I think that the police have virtually jumped the gun," he told local television station EMTV.

"This matter is before the court. It is within my legal right as a citizen under the constitution to go to court and get the court’s interpretation of what has transpired."

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PNG PM's show of force as prosecutor suspended | SBS News