SYDNEY (AFP) – Papua New Guinea’s influential petroleum minister has been charged with assault following a “domestic dispute” near Sydney’s famed Bondi Beach, Australian police said yesterday.
Jimmy Maladina, a crucial player in ongoing international negotiations over a lucrative natural gas project, was arrested on Saturday.
Police said they found a “31-year-old woman with facial injuries” after they were called to an address near Bondi, allegedly sustained in an “altercation” with Maladina.
Maladina is listed to appear in a Sydney court on Thursday, court documents show, and has been charged with “assault occasioning actual bodily harm”.
