NZer employed by Wilsons on Manus Island murder suspect

Tuesday, May 3rd, 2016

A New Zealand guard is one of the suspects in the murder of Reza Barati, a refugee detained in the Manus Island Detention Centre.

The New Zealander is employed by Wilson Security – part of the The Wilson Group of companies that includes Wilson Parking and First Security.

Two local guards have already been found guilty of the murder.

In sentencing them, Justice Nicholas Kirriwom said the men received shorter prison terms because others were also involved in killing Barati.

Those people had not yet been charged, he said.

On its website Wilson Security says “Wilson Security is contracted to maintain a safe and secure environment for asylum seekers, staff and contractors at the Nauru and Manus Regional Processing Centres.”

Wilsons is a subcontractor of Broadspectrum, formally know as Transfield Services Ltd.

Transfield Services had won a $AU1.2 billion contract to manage security services at refugee processing centres in Nauru and Manus.

Ronnie Knight, Papua New Guinea local MP for Manus Island, said foreign security guards suspected in murder and rape cases in and around the offshore centre should still be extradited to Papua New Guinea for trial.

He said he didn’t want the centre’s imminent closure to mark an end to these cases.

An Australian is also a suspect the murder of Barati.

Three other Australians have been accused of raping another employee.

These Wilson Security expatriates were flown back to Australia before they could face justice.

“We also don’t want other things swept under the table,” Knight said, “like the outstanding rape allegations…”

“We would want all of them extradited back to Papua New Guinea and to face justice as well.”

Last week Papua New Guinea’s Supreme Court ruled Australia’s regional processing centre on PNG’s Manus island was illegal because it amounted to holding people against their will.

A five-judge bench ordered the Papua New Guinea and Australian governments to immediately take steps to end the detention of 850 asylum seekers and refugees in the centre.

An Australian lawyer and Jesuit priest says Australia’s asylum seeker policy is unethical and was always legally flawed.

Father Frank Brennan from the Australian Catholic University said Australia’s Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has simply been echoing former prime ministers Tony Abbott and Kevin Rudd, to try and convince Australians that the refugees can be resettled offshore.

“Now everyone at the time knew that that was quite fanciful, that it was simply done for the electoral environment in Australia,” he said.

“And now that it’s been shown to be illegal and unconstitutional I think it’s necessary for Australia and its political leaders to front the reality.”

Frank Brennan said Papua New Guinea would be left with a massive damages bill now that 850 Manus refugees were found to have been held illegally for around three years on the island.

Source

radionz.co.nz