70 Students Face Court Over PNG Capital Fight Chaos

National Capital District Metropolitan Superintendent Warrick Simatab

Fighting among rival schools in Port Moresby has landed seventy Papua New Guinean students in court, with all of them convicted on Friday by the Port Moresby District Court.

Magistrate Sandy Tiankin delivered the ruling, ordering each student to pay a K200 fine drawn from their existing bail payments, along with a six-month good behaviour period that requires them to stay out of trouble or face further penalty.

Reacting to the decision, National Capital District Metropolitan Superintendent Warrick Simatab said the ruling gives police a solid foundation to crack down harder on students who organise or join fights in the city. He was briefed on the case outcome by prosecutors shortly after the verdict was handed down.

Supt Simatab did not hold back in his appeal to students still tempted to get involved in such rivalries, reminding them that an education is not something to be thrown away over a street brawl.

The case is far from over, with police confirming that another 20 individuals connected to the same fighting incidents, all considered adults, will be dealt with separately at the Boroko District Court. Supt Simatab noted that Friday's convictions will now guide how police charge similar groups caught inciting school violence in future.

He also flagged plans for police to coordinate more directly with school authorities, pressing for the removal of repeat offenders from the school system altogether. Beyond the classroom, he said, the responsibility falls back on families to correct behaviour before it ever becomes a police matter.

"Your parents, guardians, and sponsors make sacrifices and invest in your education because they want you to have a better future. Do not allow peer pressure, rivalry, or social influence to destroy those opportunities. Choose discipline. Choose respect. Choose education. Choose education over violence. Your future is worth far more than one fight," he said.

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