Two Australian lawyers have reportedly been barred from entering Papua New Guinea, after preparing to represent authorities in a case against the PNG Prime Minister Peter O’Neill.
Greg Egan and Terence Lambert are representing PNG investigators in relation to a major fraud case involved alleged illegal state payments to a law firm.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports the pair as saying their travel ban is a ploy to further undermine the case against Mr O’Neill.
Fairfax reports that it has seen a letter signed by PNG’s Chief Migration Officer Mataio Rabura last month, instructing international airlines not to carry the men on any flights to PNG or risk penalties.
Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has declined to intervene.
However Mr Egan, who has been conducting law in PNG for almost three decades, has lodged papers with the PNG National Court of Justice for a judicial review of the case.
Australian and PNG legal bodies have raised concerns over the travel bans, saying they could be viewed as an attempt to pervert the course of justice.
