Yaura Sasa is a

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

n retired

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

who led the failed 2012 Defence Force mutiny on 26 January 2012. Sasa and approximately 20 PNG soldiers seized control of the main administrative compound in the Defence Force Headquarters,

Murray Barracks Murray Barracks () was a barracks for the British Army garrisoned in Admiralty, Central in Hong Kong. It was named after Sir George Murray, the Master-General of the Ordnance at the time of construction. Location It was situated between present ...

located within the capital

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Z ...

. The group, led by Sasa, also briefly captured the commander of the

Papua New Guinea Defence Force The Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of Papua New Guinea. It originated from the Australian Army land forces of the territory of Papua New Guinea before independence, coming into bei ...

, Brigadier General

Francis Agwi Brigadier General Francis Wanji Agwi, CSM, CBE, DSM (born ?) is a Papua New Guinean Army officer who served as the 9th Commander of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force. On 26 January 2012, Brigadier General Agwi was briefly captured and held pri ...

and placed him under house arrest along with other higher-ranking officers. The mutiny was related to a dispute over the prime ministership between Sir

Michael Somare Sir Michael Thomas Somare (9 April 1936 – 26 February 2021) was a Papua New Guinean politician. Widely called the "father of the nation" (), he was the first Prime Minister after independence. At the time of his death, Somare was also the lo ...

and

Peter O'Neill Peter Charles Paire O'Neill (born 13 February 1965) is a Papua New Guinean politician who served as the seventh Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea from 2011 to 2019. From 2002 until the present he served as Member of Parliament for Ialibu-Pan ...

which had begun in December 2011 when the

Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea The Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea has been the highest court of Papua New Guinea since 16 September 1975, replacing the pre-Independence Supreme Court (corresponding to the post-Independence National Court) and the overseas appellate tribunal ...

ordered that Somare be reinstated as the prime minister while the county's parliament supported O'Neill. Sasa led the

mutiny Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military, of a crew or of a crew of pirates) to oppose, change, or overthrow an organization to which they were previously loyal. The term is commonly used for a rebellion among member ...

with the goal of reinstating Michael Somare as

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

. Sasa was arrested and charged with mutiny on 28 January 2012. He was located in a Port Moresby

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

, and was reportedly taken into custody at a police station voluntarily. The charge against Sasa was struck out by the Committal Court on 1 August 2012 on the grounds that police prosecutors had not submitted any evidence to substantiate it.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sasa, Yaura Year of birth missing (living people) Papua New Guinean military personnel Living people