2012 Papua New Guinea Defence Force mutiny The 2012 Papua New Guinea Defence Force mutiny took place on 26 January 2012 when a group of military personnel headed by retired Colonel Yaura Sasa took the commander of the defence force , Brigadier General Francis Agwi , prisoner . The mutiny was related to a dispute over the prime ministership between Sir Michael Somare and Peter O ' Neill which had begun in December 2011 when the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea ordered that Somare be reinstated as the prime minister while the country ' s parliament supported O ' Neill . Following the crisis in December , Somare directed Governor - General Sir Michael Ogio to appoint Sasa as the commander of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force ( PNGDF ) . After forces under Sasa ' s command captured Agwi on 26 January , the colonel called upon the Governor - General to reinstate Somare as the country ' s leader and threatened to take further action if this did not occur . The mutiny ended later that day , with Agwi being freed . Sasa was arrested and charged with mutiny on 28 January . Prelude . In August 2011 Peter O ' Neill became the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea ( PNG ) . At this time Sir Michael Somare was recovering from sickness , and his family had announced that he had resigned from both the Prime Ministership and parliament . In December 2011 the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea ruled that Somare ' s removal from office was unlawful , and directed that he be reinstated . This led to a political standoff , during which Somare asked the commander of the PNGDF , Brigadier General Francis Agwi , to intervene . Agwi refused to do so however , and endorsed O ' Neill . O ' Neill was supported by most members of Parliament , and retained the position . At some point following these events , Somare and his cabinet took the decision to replace Agwi with the retired PNGDF officer Colonel Yaura Sasa . Sasa had served as the defence attache in Papua New Guinea ' s embassy in Indonesia before retiring from the military . Mutiny . At 3 : 00 am on 26 January about 20 soldiers from the 1st Battalion , Royal Pacific Islands Regiment ( 1 RPIR ) took Agwi and two other officers deemed to be loyal to O ' Neill prisoner after overpowering guards at Taurama Barracks outside of PNG ' s capital of Port Moresby . Several shots were fired during this operation . The party then transported Agwi to Murray Barracks near the centre of the city where he was placed under house arrest . At a press conference held on 26 January , Sasa claimed that his actions were not a coup or mutiny as he had been appointed to lead the PNGDF by Somare . He called upon Governor General Sir Michael Ogio to reinstate Somare . He also stated that " I once again am now calling on . . . both parties and the head of state to respect the constitution and comply with the orders issued by the supreme court immediately " and " If this call is not heeded , I may be forced to take necessary actions " . PNG ' s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Belden Namah stated in separate press conference that Sasa was not supported by most of the PNGDF , and that 15 of his supporters had been arrested . At this time the total number of military personnel supporting the colonel was stated to be about 30 . Namah claimed that Sasa ' s actions constituted treason and called upon him to surrender . In response to reports that Somare had ordered the mutiny , Namah stated that Somare had " lost sanity " . In a statement issued via his daughter on 26 January , Somare defended his decision to order the mutiny . He argued that the mutiny was legitimate as O ' Neill and his supporters were " illegally holding on to power " . He also stated that " We cannot allow this situation to continue where a rogue government commandeers the disciplinary forces " and " It is incumbent on the police and army to comply with the orders of the supreme court and support the legitimate government , which is the minority Somare / Agiru government " . In the evening of 26 January O ' Neill told the media that the mutiny had ended . He stated that Agwi had been freed and Sasa was being " dealt with " . The soldiers who supported Sasa had withdrawn to Taurama Barracks . Many businesses in Port Moresby closed on 26 January in response to the mutiny . An Australian Broadcasting Corporation reporter in the city stated that the atmosphere there was " tense " . All domestic flights in PNG were also cancelled in an apparent attempt to prevent other soldiers travelling to Port Moresby . The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade issued a statement warning Australians to " limit travel around Port Moresby " . New Zealand ' s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade issued a similar warning . Aftermath . The mutineers at Taurama Barracks were still armed on 27 January , and had announced that they would retain their weapons until they received a pardon . At this time , Sasa was reported to be in the barracks ' officers mess . A spokesman for the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary was reported to have said that the force did not intend to arrest Sasa , as his conduct was a matter for the military . Sasa was also reported to be seeking a pardon . Due to the intensification of the political crisis following the mutiny , the PNG Government ' s credit rating was downgraded from stable to negative by ratings agency Standard & Poor ' s . Sasa was arrested by police officers on the night of 28 January and charged with mutiny . At this time he was staying in a house in the suburb of Boroko . On 29 January Somare issued a statement in which he called upon police and the PNGDF to support the supreme court ruling in relation to the prime ministership . On 30 January , the soldiers who participated in the mutiny surrendered their weapons to Namah following a parade at Taurama Barracks . The Defence Minister gave a speech to about 200 members of 1 RPIR , including the 30 mutineers , during which he stated that the soldiers who had taken party in the mutiny would receive an amnesty later that afternoon . He threatened that personnel who participated in any further mutinies would " face the full brunt of the law " , however . Sasa was released on bail on 1 February . The mutiny on 26 January was the second military mutiny to have taken place in PNG . The first occurred on 28 July 1997 when the PNGDF ' s Special Forces Unit occupied Murray Barracks .