Emergency rally: Tuesday April 24, 1.30pm NSW Parliament House, Macquarie St, Sydney On Tuesday April 24 at 1.30pm we will be holding a rally outside the NSW Parliament House to protest the violence and abuse of the NSW police as exampled by the circumstances at Kings Cross and five police-related deaths in custody so far this year already.

We will also be putting to the Barry O’Farrell government, and police minister Mike Gallacher specifically, that tasers be withdrawn from the frontline police due to their lethality. If you can make it to this rally and support us please do. Help us to make justice – not just us! The April 22 shooting of two Aboriginal teenagers in a stolen car at Kings Cross focuses the mind on just how violent are the NSW Police Force and the police in the rest of this country.

I do not condone car theft (and yes I have suffered having my car stolen) or any other crime for that matter but I certainly would argue that the crime is hardly a hanging offence. The allegedly stolen car had six young Aborigines, aged between 13 and 24, inside of it when the police drew their guns and fired through the windscreen. Why couldn’t they shoot the tyres out? They didn’t because they are not trained to shoot out tyres, they are trained to shoot to kill. Perhaps the occupants were armed, possibly attempting to shoot out the tyres could have led to the death or wounding of civilians? The driver elected to attempt an escape, so we are told, and tasers were useless in this situation so they pulled their Glocks and let loose. But then shooting the driver was no guarantee that the car would stop – it could have caused greater mayhem.

Whatever the rights or wrongs of that situation, what followed was police brutality at its worst. Both TV reports and still shots clearly show police exacting their own brand of punishment upon at least one of the occupants of the car. Troy Taylor, the alleged driver, had been wounded twice, once in the chest and an arm/shoulder wound. Troy had a wound to his neck and he was seen to be bleeding profusely from his wound. Troy was dragged from the car seat, with force that would of caused him further pain. Then the officer doing the extraction is seen laying into Troy with his fist. It was obvious to anyone watching that Troy was definitely not resisting arrest in any manner. While on the ground he was also knelt on as they put the cuffs on him. (This practice of kneeling or sitting on the victims back is a most dangerous act as was evidenced by the knee-drop from Hurley to Mulrinji Doomadgee in 2004 and the kneeling/sitting on the back of Terrance Briscoe in the Alice Springs lock-up in January of this year. Positional asphyxia would have been an important causal link to his death.

Still the police around the country continues to use this form of arrest technique as it is far safer for them to do so. Does the life of a police officer far outweighs that of any member of the citizenry?) We then saw an officer grab hold of Troy’s shirt and roughly drag him over the roadway like a sack of potatoes. He was then dumped face-down and cuffed but one can see that he was still bleeding profusely. I have seen no visuals of the driver being extracted but the procedure would have been the same even though he was wounded twice. Both are in critical condition in hospital. This disgusting and inhuman treatment handed out by those police involved at the Kings Cross scene however comes as no great surprise. In a four-month period, roughly, we have had at least five deaths in custody relative to police actions and two near-death events that could be fatal in one case at least.

At Springwood, NSW a 67-year old man walked into the Springwood police station and he then collapsed and died. Nothing else is known about the circumstances of that death. In February police around Bathurst were involved in a high speed pursuit of a stolen car and other acts. The car eventually crashed and the two occupants were arrested and taken to Bathurst gaol where the 22 year old driver collapsed in his cell and died. He was offered assistance at the Bathurst hospital but for whatever reason he refused to comply. Also in February 21 Magistrate Geoffrey Dunleavey threw out a case against Phillip Bugmy of Wilcannia and charged the police instead for tasering Phillip in his home whilst Phillip was on his knees with his hands behind his head. Sometimes magistrates do stand up to the police.

On the March 18 a police action led to the death of Roberto Laudisio Curti by six police who decided to play cat and mouse with Roberto as they chased him through the streets of Sydney. They had maced him and let him run blind, they caught him and video shows them slamming his head into the frame of the shop window and again let him run. Then they tasered him at least three times and allowed him to run until he collapsed and died. On March 25 at the end of a police pursuit the victim, Darren Neil, was cornered at the Westfield shopping centre whereby he was then shot dead by the officer who had pursued him. Details are sketchy and we have only the police version to go on. April 16 found the police up Tenterfield, NSW in a situation that the victim seemed to be suffering a psychotic attack. It was alleged that he had a crossbow and a knife and threatened the police who were present. The female officer fired off a taser but missed so the male officer drew his Glock and killed the victim. Over in Western Australia a police officer who was in a high speed pursuit of a stolen car ran a red light in the process and crashed into a civilian vehicle. The woman died and the officer is being charged for dangerous driving.

We urgently need, as a society, to manage our police better and make them far more accountable for their actions and their mistakes.

For more information call Ray Jackson at 0450651063 or Raul Bassi at 0403037376  Indigenous Social Justice Association

- Police withdraw six more camping charges

- Altogether 11 camping/staying overnight matters have been dismissed due to lack of evidence
- Magistrate finds prosecution’s evidence “essentially unreliable” and the arrest to have been made illegally
- One sentence overturned and conviction quashed on appeal while Judge commends “courage”
- Federal Court challenge to police actions continues, led by Stuart Littlemore QC
Last Friday 13th April, over 25 participants in Occupy Sydney came before the courts, largely for matters arising from the first police clearance of the Occupy Sydney protest site on 23rd October 2011. In another victory for the right to protest against greed and injustice in Australia NSW police were forced to withdraw six matters alleging ‘camping’. The continuing illegitimate police tactics towards the Occupy Sydney movement only serve to reinforce the public perception of a poorly directed NSW Police force.
These events follow two similar recently withdrawn matters. On 4th April, due to insufficient evidence the court also dismissed a charge of a breach of a local council regulation prohibiting “staying overnight”. Magistrate Bradd in the Downing Centre found the prosecution’s evidence to be lacking and “essentially unreliable”. He also made remarks about the illegality of the initial arrest given the absence of reasonable grounds for the police to suspect an offence had occurred.

In that case, the police officers involved included Detective Sergeant Damien Loone from the Rocks Police Station, commander of Operation Goulding, responsible for the policing of the Occupy Sydney protest. Robert Hammond, a 66-year-old pensioner and Occupy Sydney participant from the Central Coast, was forced to spend 10 hours in police custody in early February for the alleged offence of “staying overnight” in Martin Place. Mr. Hammond successfully defended himself by exposing the lack of evidence for the offence and the inappropriate use of arrest and bail, far in excess of the alleged offence, so as to prevent him from returning to the Occupy Sydney demonstration site in Martin Place.
On 12th April, Vicki Smart, also an Occupy participant, successfully challenged the severity of her sentence earlier this year regarding a solidarity action against Westpac’s redundancies and offshoring. The Judge found that Ms. Smart’s original sentence was excessive, and commented on her courage in the action itself. The Judge then ordered a Section 10 “no conviction recorded” replace the original conviction.

Since mid-October 2011, NSW police have made over 90 arrests of people who, through Occupy Sydney, have been demonstrating against economic injustice and government indifference. The vast majority of legal matters relate to alleged breaches of local council regulations by ‘camping’ or “staying overnight”. ‘To date, not a single charge has succeeded in court. In total, ten charges have either been withdrawn by police or dismissed by the court due to lack of evidence. This shows a clear pattern of political abuse directed towards Occupy Sydney, something which we have been forced to endure for these last six months. Globally police forces have behaved irrationally towards peaceful protesters participating in this movement and we urge the relevant bodies to engage with addressing these issues’ said ….. an Occupy Sydney participant These courtroom victories expose the police attempts to criminalise involvement in the Occupy Sydney demonstration.

Occupy Sydney is also challenging the constitutional basis of police actions in the Federal Court. Stuart Littlemore QC, with instructions from solicitors in Marsden’s Law Group, is representing Occupy Sydney to challenge whether police evictions, arrests, property seizures and other actions conducted on the premise of enforcing a Council notice prohibiting ‘camping’, are in breach of the implied right to the freedom of political communication in the Constitution.
Occupy Sydney’s Federal Court case is similar to one brought by Occupy Melbourne, which is currently awaiting a decision on its recent hearing in the Federal Court in Melbourne. The outcomes of these challenges will have important consequences for the right of all Australians to protest freely in public without state sponsored interference and intimidation.
Participants in Occupy Sydney will continue to challenge attempts to criminalise their political activity and demonstrations against continued financial and environmental crisis. The next directions hearing for the Federal Court case will be 22nd May at the Federal Court. On 30th May at the Downing Centre, the barrister and media figure Charles Waterstreet will continue his pro bono defence of Lily Hatten, a 19-year-old woman who is one of the most active participants in Occupy Sydney, also charged with “staying overnight”.
Media contacts:

Vicki Smart 0447 842 547

Wenny Theresia – 0452 101 002

Jacquelene Drinkall – 0414 551 791