‘We want justice for our son’

A young Papua New Guinean is silently serving a 20-year jail sentence in Australia "for a crime he has not committed" and his family has indicated to appeal the sentence claiming he did not receive a fair trial from the Australian jury.

They have also asked for an international investigation to be conducted into investigations, arrest and subsequent conviction and sentencing of the youngster. Nineteen-year-old Mark Basa of Indagen village, Kabwum, Morobe province was convicted of manslaughter after allegedly killing Zane McCreedy, an Australian army officer. Mark had just turned 16 a week earlier before the incident.

The deceased was allegedly attacked by a group of young Australians including Mark in a brawl in Williamtown in July, 2005. McCreedy was a Royal Australian Air Force cadet officer based at their Williamtown airport base.

Mark, a week after a 12 hour operation when most tubes were removed (still has some on his neck)

But Mark’s family told The National in an exclusive interview yesterday from Newcastle that their son was innocent of the crime and pleaded with the PNG government to press for damages from Canberra for wrongful detention and conviction. "I want our government to ask their counterpart (Australian government) consider pardoning our son, and possibly compensate our son for wrongful conviction (and) compensation for negligence that resulted in Mark’s operation where one third of his pancreas was removed," father Muteng Richard Basa said.

The family also wants their son to be compensated for "abuses" he received from prison officers at the Royal North Shore hospital in Sydney while he was undergoing a 12-hour operation. "They must also compensate Mark for the abuse he received in hospital, and the abuse of the articles related to the United Nations on the rights of a child," Mr Basa added.

Mark has already served two years of his sentence. The teenager is currently held in custody at Frank Baxter Juvenile centre. His father said Mark served a year in the adult prison at Lithgow, NSW but was returned back to Baxter when the family challenged the transfer and won the case in court. Basa said his son was the only suspect arrested and charged amongst a group of boys because of his "colour" and wants an inquiry into the whole process.

Mark's family waiting anxiously to get help from anybody who wishes to offer help

"Most of all I want the government to push for a thorough investigation into the lack of proper investigation (by the NSW police) resulting in a conviction that clearly has the hallmarks of racial discrimination and deprivation of basic human rights," Basa further alleges. "We are seeking to appeal young Mark’s conviction and the severity of his sentence in the NSW Criminal Court of Appeals. We have engaged a barrister and a solicitor. We also had a senior Queens Council (QC) but as we do not have sufficient funds to meet his cost, he has pulled out until we can come up with the funds," the father said.

To secure a good QC and a best legal team to represent Mark in the appeal, Mr Basa says it would cost the family A$100,000 to A$150,000. But he said the family does not have these funds to fight for Mark’s legal battle. "We do not know where or how we can raise that kind of money to fight to prove my son’s innocence, and to fight to expose the wrongs that are there and set Mark free. We appreciate the very close friends and family that have started the ball rolling to raise funds out of their pockets to date," the father who had just been employed by a resource company for the last 11 months added.

The Basa family who have exhausted all their resources and are in dire need of help to fight the legal battle for Mark

Mr Basa said he was into a year and half under an AUSAid scholarship when the incident occurred. He said he asked for time off to settle his son’s problem but added his scholarship was cancelled. "From 2006 we have been struggling to survive without any form of support from anyone except finding casual odd jobs to see us through in the midst of our stress and pressure from the incident," Basa said.

He said his several pleas with the PNG High Commission in Canberra and through the foreign affairs office in Port Moresby for assistance fell on deaf hears. He said many officers including the deputy high commissioner in Canberra claimed to have said they could not interfere with the Australian judicial system.

By DAVID MURI of The National

*** We really don't know what happened in the first place behind the scenes but what we all know is that foreign embassies are there to represent it's people in such situations. The response given by the people seem to represent us in Australia is uncalled for. They need to act quickly to help the family at this time.