Protest at PNG government move against judges

SEVERAL thousand demonstrators have converged on the entrance to the University of Papua New Guinea to protest against new laws that give parliament the power to effectively suspend judges, The National reports.

The protesters, many of them students at the university, say they will march on government offices unless Prime Minister Peter O'Neill or his deputy, Belden Namah, come to collect a 4000-signature petition against the law.

While there is a heavy police presence outside the campus, police are mostly unarmed. Senior officers have been negotiating with the protest leaders to keep them on the university grounds.

The law was rushed through parliament on Wednesday, a day after being introduced.

It has received much criticism in PNG and has been interpreted as a way for the government to move against PNG's chief justice, Sir Salamo Injia.