By Keith Jackson in Noosa

In a shock development in Papua New Guinea’s Schram case, the former vice-chancellor of the PNG University of Technology has said he will not return to Papua New Guinea “until major changes occur in the country”.

Dr Schram said he has been the subject of a “political prosecution” and will forego bail rather than return to an uncertain legal future in PNG.

“[We entered] a parallel world where lies are truth and all people are blind, deaf and mute,” he wrote in Facebook of the charge of “false pretence” he is facing.

READ MORE: My arrest: Wrongful dismissal and malicious prosecution in PNG

“In this world, you are completely alone because there is no point in trying to have a reasonable conversation with anyone. A truly terrifying world, but the truth will set us free.”

News story of the Sevua report backing Dr Schram in The National. Image: File

But Dr Schram said he will still go through “the costly process” of getting his original doctorate legalised and send it through diplomatic channels to the committal court in Waigani.

“This should clear all charges for ever,” he said.

Last Tuesday, against the wishes of police prosecutor Kila Tali, national court judge Panuel Mogish had varied Dr Schram’s bail conditions and ordered his passport be returned to enable him to travel to Italy to obtain the credentials which would have been prime evidence in a court hearing on a charge that Dr Schram engaged in “false pretence”.

Left at weekend
Dr Schram and his wife Paulina left Papua New Guinea on Saturday ostensibly to retrieve the doctoral qualifications from the European University Institute in Florence.

“We got out,” Dr Schram emailed me from Singapore yesterday, “probably not able to come back until major changes occur in the country.”

“In his judgement on May 22 on the bail conditions, the judge in the national court was deliberately explicit on the substantive case,” Dr Schram has written on his Facebook page.

“There is not a shred of primary evidence suggesting I have falsified anything, while there is overwhelming evidence that in fact my doctorate is genuine,” he said.

“Finally an independent judge has said what anyone with common sense could have concluded since the complaints were made in 2012.”

Dr Schram quoted Justice Mogish as writing in his judgement:

“In spite of this overwhelming evidence (presented by Dr Schram) Mr [Ralph] Saulep continues to dispute the authenticity of the applicant’s doctorate degree. I find this ridiculous and difficult to fathom especially when neither he or the police are in receipt of evidence from the European University Institute in Florence Italy, confirming their allegations and suspicions”.

The judge continued:

“The current charge, with respect, lacks the primary evidence to prove the elements of falsity. Whether they will have such evidence by the 12 June 2018 (the next hearing) is anyone’s guess. The reality is that they have failed to do so when the allegations were raised in 2012.”

Case ‘will be thrown out’
Dr Schram said: “It stands to reason the case will be thrown out at some point in time and my innocence will be established.

“All this is of course is damaging for police and the complainant – former pro chancellor Ralph Saulep….. Since the conditions for the settlement with the [current Unitech] Council, which included no criminal prosecution, have now been violated, I do not consider myself bound to this agreement.

“In any case, for justice to prevail and the people of PNG to be liberated from police abuse, I must describe the facts.”

Dr Schram said he and his wife Paulina “did not come to [PNG] to get rich but neither did we expect the financial ruin we are facing now.

“The legal fight with the [Unitech] Council for wrongful dismissal first and now the fight for my malicious prosecution by the police has drained all of our resources.”

He said he missed two job interviews because of his arrest and, when the charges are cleared, he will claim damages for “all the financial losses, opportunity costs and defamation of character I suffered”.

Dr Schram also said a parliamentary inquiry was warranted into police abuse in his case.

Police ‘need restructuring’
He concluded:

“Like for all of us academics, journalists and other knowledge workers who cannot return to the country, it makes us sad that until amends are made and the police have been restructured and [brought] under control, we will not be able to see our friends and our new and beloved family in PNG.”

When varying the bail conditions last week, Justice Mogish said it would be academic and career suicide for Dr Schram to abscond from bail and not return to PNG.

“I do not think any reasonable man would just walk away leaving a trail of serious allegations unanswered,” he said.

“His standing in the academic world would be seriously affected.”

Whether or not the judge’s words will be borne out, time will tell.

But it does seem that, given these dramatic circumstances, Dr Schram’s hopes for vindication are unlikely to be realised.

Small price to pay
Then again, Albert and Paulina Schram may feel this is a small price to pay.

They had found themselves is a totally powerless position on what appeared to be a trumped up charge in a country where they doubted the politics surrounding their predicament would allow justice to prevail no matter what the court decided.

This has emerged as something of a cautionary tale for outsiders who sail too close to Papua New Guinea’s political winds.

Keith Jackson is a retired journalist, broadcaster, administrator and media educator and has held senior positions in Australia and Papua New Guinea. This article was first published on his blog PNG Attitude and is republished by Asia Pacific Report with permission.

The former vice-chancellor of Papua New Guinea’s Unitech will seek leave from the National Court to retrieve his original PhD certificate from Italy, reports RNZ Pacific.

Albert Schram was arrested earlier this month and charged with obtaining employment through false pretence.

Police allege he produced a fake PhD certificate at Unitech in 2012.

Dr Schram’s lawyer, Greg Manda, said his client had presented a certified copy but had lost his original certificate. He could only obtain another in person from the European University Institute in Florence.

‘Outrageous developments’

BRIEFING: Stephen Howes backgrounds the issue that has stunned educational circles in Papua New Guinea.

On Friday, Loop PNG reported that Dr Albert Schram, former Vice Chancellor of PNG Unitech, had been arrested earlier in the week in Port Moresby and charged with “false pretence”.

According to the news website, Dr Schram was “arrested over allegations he produced falsified and fraudulent documents relating to his PhD qualification, which he obtained on 24 November 1994 from the European University Institute”.

He has been released from jail on bail, his passport confiscated, unable to leave the country.

These developments are outrageous, damaging, and scary. There is absolutely no doubt that Schram has the PhD he says he has. The university’s own website has a detailed record of it, including the date of defence and the names of examiners. Moreover, the man has published a book from his thesis, with Cambridge University Press no less.

The PNG Secretary of Higher Education has intervened and vouched publicly for the authenticity of Schram’s doctorate.

In the face of all this, the claim of the police seems to be reduced to the allegation that Schram had earlier (presumably at the time of appointment, back in 2012) produced a “fraudulently manufactured PhD certificate.” But why would someone fake a certificate for a genuine PhD? It makes no sense. The entire thing is a beat up.

The Unitech Council has disassociated itself from the recent police action, and stated that the police are acting on a complaint by the “former Council,” the one that preceded Schram’s appointment.

Cleaning up corruption
Once appointed, Schram started cleaning up the corruption and mismanagement he found. Some members of that “former Council” responded by trying to dismiss him, including by making the same allegation of false pretence with which he is currently charged.

In the end they got him barred from the country in March 2013. Schram was in exile for over a year, until, after an inquiry, he was re-admitted and returned in triumph to Unitech in April 2014 (see accounts here and here).

The 2013 Sevua inquiry, set up to investigate Schram’s appointment, found evidence of massive prior corruption, and also found that the termination of Schram’s appointment was unlawful, and that the “fraudulent misrepresentation … allegations are unsubstantiated.”

Schram’s arrest, some five years later, is outrageous because it is so transparently unfounded, and against the rule of law. Given that the matter has already been investigated and dismissed, how did Schram’s enemies enlist the police, and get them to arrest him? The arrest sends a message that you had better be careful not to make powerful enemies in PNG or, even if you act entirely legally, you might be arrested on the flimsiest and most baseless of grounds.

The episode is damaging not only because of the chilling effect it will have on domestic critics and reformers, but also because it will scare away academics and other foreigners who might otherwise be attracted to work in PNG, and take on positions of responsibility.

It follows the ban on entering PNG imposed on prominent Australian academic and businessperson Ross Garnaut in 2013.

It is especially damaging in the year of APEC, when the whole world is watching PNG.

Quick operation
Finally the episode is scary because the operation was mounted so quickly. Clearly when Schram was vice-chancellor of Unitech, he was afforded some protection from the groundless claims of fraud now being levelled against him. But Schram is no longer VC. He is in the country on a tourist visa after visiting Australia en route to Italy, his home country, on Unitech-paid tickets. His passport was confiscated the day he landed, and his arrest followed a few days later.

I urge all who support the rule of law and good governance in PNG — including the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and the Australian Federal Police — to speak out for Dr Albert Schram, and to urge the police to drop the scurrilous charges against him.

Note: Schram’s tenure at Unitech ended earlier this year after a falling out with the current Council. One of the disputed claims was that, according to the Council, Schram failed to provide his “verified credentials” to the University. According to Schram, he did.

In any case, this allegation is quite different from the current charge of “obtaining employment by false pretence.” More generally, the Council’s statement of disassociation is consistent with the broader view that Schram’s departure from Unitech in no way provides a basis for the arrest last week.

Dr Albert Schram was a visiting fellow at the Australian National University in December 2017, and in 2016 presented a lecture here.

Professor Stephen Howes is the director of the Development Policy Centre and a professor of Economics at the Crawford School, Australian National University. This article was first published on the ANU’s Devpolicy Blog.