Charges allege O’Neill, who was replaced in May, took part in ‘official corruption’

This article is more than 11 months old

This article is more than 11 months old

Police have issued a warrant for the arrest of the former prime minister of Papua New Guinea Peter O’Neill on corruption charges.

The warrant was issued by the Waigani district court on Friday for “official corruption”, according to a statement issued by acting commissioner of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary, David Manning, who said he was not able to reveal specific details of the charges at this point “due to the sensitivity of the investigations”.

“The warrant was obtained upon the weight of the evidence brought forward by the investigators,” Manning said in a statement.

“The warrant of arrest is now in the process of being served on Mr O’Neill. He will be processed by police after which he has the right to bail and defend himself in court.”

Manning said that police had made contact with O’Neill at the hotel where he was staying and asked him to accompany them to a police station to be processed but the former prime minister had not complied with the request.

“As we speak he has refused to cooperate with police thus far,” said Manning.

The warrant was confirmed to the Guardian by Bryan Kramer, PNG’s police minister and a key anti-corruption campaigner, who told the Guardian earlier this year that he expected O’Neill would not finish serving his term as an MP, but would be “arrested and prosecuted”.

Speaking to the Guardian on Tuesday, after news of the arrest warrant was reported, Kramer said O’Neill was refusing to cooperate with police.

“It is disturbing to hear a former prime minister avoiding arrest by hiding out in a hotel room and refusing to cooperate with police in complying with the court-ordered warrant of arrest.”

O’Neill came to power in 2011.

He stepped down as leader of the country in May after months of political turmoil, and the parliament voted overwhelmingly to replace him with James Marape.

In 2014, a warrant was issued for O’Neill’s arrest as part of a long-running corruption inquiry into alleged fraudulent payments of around $30m to a Port Moresby law firm. O’Neill fought the warrant, which was eventually ruled to be void by the PNG supreme court. Anger over O’Neill’s refusal to face charges led to student protests in 2016, which resulted in the deaths of four people.

On Tuesday, O’Neill said in a statement the announcement was a “political power play” and that he had not been informed that there was a warrant out for his arrest.

“The fact that the Acting Commissioner would choose to make this announcement on social media, and not through official representation to my office, is telling me that this is a political move,” he said in a statement.

“I was not informed or presented with a warrant to appear anywhere today from any member of the [Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary]. If this was a serious matter, not a political power play, a formal process would be in place that would have seen legal representation made to my office.”

O’Neill said the claims, which he alleges are “false and fabricated in a clumsy way” by Kramer, whom he accused of “blatant interference in police operations”, related to renovations to the Yangaum Health Centre in Madang, which is in Kramer’s province.

“If someone has mismanaged the funds, they should be dealt with, not people trying to assist and this nonsense from the Police Minister trying to be a policeman,” said O’Neill.

“As Prime Minister I was never the custodian of the funds sent to Madang for the Yangaum Health Centre for renovations to repair the run-down hospital.”

O’Neill said he would make himself available to police but added a warning to any police officer “to think carefully and respect and honour the oath you swore to our nation”.