Efforts to have the two expatriate G4S workers, alleged to have attacked Barati on Manus Island, returned have failed, court told during trial of two local men

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This article is more than 4 years old

Manus violence that killed Reza Barati 'eminently foreseeable', parliamentary inquiry finds Read more

Two expatriate workers allegedly involved in the murder of Reza Barati in the Manus Island detention centre have not been returned to the island to face charges, despite Papua New Guinea police efforts to get them back, the PNG national court has heard.

And the oft-delayed trial of two local men over the asylum seeker’s death last year was adjourned yet again Friday, after a key witness – a fellow asylum seeker who reportedly saw Barati die – refused to testify because, he said, he’d been told he’d be killed if he gave evidence.

Benham Sateh, who shared a room with Barati, told the court his life was in danger because he had given a statement to police over his roommate’s murder on 17 February 2014.

“I am a target for them because I became a witness,” he told the court, the ABC reported. “There was not just the two locals, there was expats as well.

“I have to go back to the compound and my life will be in danger.”

Sateh said he would not testify without formal protection. “I’ve already been threatened many times before,” he said.

The court has been adjourned so police, detention centre staff and government prosecutors can discuss a protection plan for Sateh.

Witnesses to death of Reza Barati apply for protection in Australia Read more

Sateh initially refused to even attend court. Guardian Australia has obtained video of him being forcibly led to a police four-wheel-drive to be taken to court. He calls out to fellow asylum seekers in the detention centre as he is led away.



Two PNG nationals, Joshua Kaluvia and Louie Efi, have been charged with wilful murder over Barati’s death. Kaluvia is alleged to have hit Barati twice in the head with a piece of timber affixed with nails, and Efi is alleged to have dropped a large rock on his head.



They have both pleaded not guilty.

Before the trial, Kaluvia told Guardian Australia from prison he and Efi were “being set up”.

“They want to convict us so that nobody else, no Australians or New Zealanders, who are responsible, have to face justice. We have to take the blame for them because we are PNG. They think we don’t matter.”

Sateh’s statement and those of several other witnesses, seen by Guardian Australia, name Kaluvia and Efi as attacking Barati.

But the statements also allege that not only those two men were involved, but up to 13 other guards, including expatriate guards from Australia and other countries, who kicked a prone and bleeding Barati in the head as he lay at the top of a flight of stairs.



The Australian government’s own inquiry into the incident heard Barati was attacked by “more than 10 officers” including “PNG locals, PNG guards and Australian expats”.

Men accused of Reza Barati's death in Manus detention centre stand trial Read more

The inquiry report concluded: “Mr Barati suffered a severe brain injury caused by a brutal beating by several assailants and died a few hours later.”

PNG police told the court that the first names of at least two of the expatriate guards alleged to have attacked Barati were known to police, but their efforts to have the men returned to the island to face questioning had failed.

G4S, the company in charge of security in the detention centre at the time of riot, lost the contract shortly thereafter.



Only Kaluvia and Efi have been charged over the riots which seized the Manus Island detention centre in February 2014: three days of violence which saw, in addition to Barati’s death, one asylum seeker shot, another have his throat cut, another lose an eye, and more than 60 injured in beatings from guards and police and locals.

