Australian public prosecutors have imposed an attack against a Papua -New Guinea minister who was accused of attacking a woman in Sydney.
Petroleum -Minister Jimmy Maladina had argued not guilty of the indictment of the mistreatment with physical damage, but public prosecutors withdrew the indictment in a court in Sydney.
The 58-year-old had appeared to deny the claim that he attacked a 31-year-old woman at an address near Bondi Beach last year on 6 July.
Maladina was seen with his lawyer, Margaret Cunneen, after a magistrate had rejected the indictment.
He did not speak with waiting media when he left the court.
Asked for comments, Mrs. Cunneen told the Associated Press that the result “speaks for itself.”
“He remains a person with a good character without a criminal record,” she told the AP in a text.
Papua -NEW -Guinea -Premier James Marape did not immediately respond to a request for comment on removing Maladina.
Days after the alleged incident, Mr. Marape announced that Minister of Energie Thom’s grandfather had taken over the important pestily portfolio in the energy-rich nation of the South Pacific Island because Mr. Maladina had decreased during the judicial process.
Three months later, the PNG Prime Minister announced that Mr. Maladina had been restored to the cabinet on legal advice.
“Jimmy Maladina has been restored to the Ministry of Petroleum to continue the work in the oil sector. This is done in consultation with legal advice we have received,” Marape told Papua New Guinea in October last year.
Foreign Government Ministers can claim immunity of criminal prosecution in Australia if they are a visit to the business community, but there is no immunity for private visits.
Mrs. Cunneen said the visit had been private to see his children and that Mr. Maladina had no immunity against persecution at the time.
Papua -New Guinea is the closest neighbor of Australia and was an Australian colony until independence in 1975.
AP/ABC
#Assault #Appeal #PNG #cabinet #minister #decreased