Five Years in Jail Seems Low for Murdering Manus Island Detainee Reza Barati

Reza Barati, an Iranian asylum seeker, was just 23 years old when he was bashed to death during a riot at the Australian-run Manus Island Refugee Processing Centre in February 2014. Yesterday, two men were convicted of his murder.

Papuan New Guineans Joshua Kaluvia and Louie Efi were found guilty by a PNG court and sentenced to 10 years in jail, with five suspended. They were also granted time served. Having been behind bars for the past two years, they will likely be released in 2019.

Local G4S staff and PNG nationals forced their way into the centre on the night of February 17, 2014—attacking and injuring 70 asylum seekers inside. Kaluvia, a former Salvation Army employee at the centre, repeatedly bashed the 23-year-old Iranian in the head with a piece of wood with a nail in it before Louie Efi, who had worked for G4S, dropped a large rock on his head.

PNG police say they weren't able to interview another two men they believe were involved—an Australian named Paul and a New Zealander named Anton—due to a lack of cooperation around returning them to PNG.

Sentencing judge Nicholas Kirriwom said the lower sentence was in part due to other parties involved in Barati's killing not being charged. "I bear in mind that in sentencing these two prisoners, I do not make them 'guinea pigs' to bear the brunt of punishment for those who are not here and have not been prosecuted," he said. He also noted that the prosecution case relied on testimony from only one witness.

Detainees on Manus Island were unaware of the sentencing until contacted by VICE. A refugee currently held on Manus Island awaiting resettlement in PNG told VICE he was "speechless" the men's sentence was shorter than what most asylum seekers had spent in the detention centre.

"Three years is nothing," Mahmoud* said. "We sought asylum and we are indefinitely detained. [They] killed one guy and just got three years."

He added that he was worried about the repercussions for those being settled in PNG down the line.

"First of all [they] will be looking to get revenge once [they're] out," he said. "I think the three years is to tell refugees that [they are] going to come after you all so go back to where you came from. Or telling us there is no justice here in PNG."

He was also concerned that the men might easily escape again. Kaluvia spent two weeks on the run after breaking out of Lorengau prison on March 28.

Mahmoud said his fellow asylum seekers didn't find the news surprising. "When I said about Reza's killers to be imprisoned just for three years they said, 'Oh PNG is a perfect place to kill people and get away with it.' Now they feel more PNG people will be looking… to kill us in the right time."

*Names have been changed for safety reasons.

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