University of Papua New Ginea students still not back in class Featured
16 June, 2016. A student leader at the University of Papua New Guinea says students have chosen not to attend classes today out of respect for those hurt by police during last week's unrest.
More than 20 people were injured, four of them seriously, after police opened fire on the protesting students as they tried to leave the campus.
The student leader Henry Norrie-Maim said students are free to resume classes but today they have all chosen to stay away.
"The lecture rooms are open for us to go to school and also the staff are on campus, but it's the students themselves that due to our traditions and customs as embedded in our constitution, most of us don't want to go to classes while our friends that took bullets are suffering in the hospital and recovering."
"We are not intimidated or anything, it's just that out of respect and concern we are not attending classes. But we sure can attend classes on our own free will," he said.
Henry Norrie-Maim said some students have observed a customary mourning ritual by covering themselves in mud and parading around the campus.
RNZI
