Rally in support of charged solidarity activists
DROP THE CHARGES
ABOLISH VICTORIA'S SECRET POLICE
Wednesday 7th March, 9am
Melbourne Magistrates Court
233 William St. City
In the wake of the East Timorese ballot for independence in August 1999, an
Indonesian military sponsored rampage devastated the country. After receiving
phone calls from Timorese friends reporting on the outbreak of violence, dozens
of concerned supporters burnt the Indonesian consulate flag to draw
attention to
the crisis. In the following days, tens of thousands of people took to the
streets in support of the East Timorese.
Five members of the action have since been charged by the Protective Services
Intelligence Group (PSIG) - Victoria's own secret police - for burning a piece
of cotton. The PSIG is the latest reincarnation of a covert policing group
that
specialises in undermining community movements. It was the PSIG's infamous
predecessor the Operations Intelligence Unit (OIU) which was exposed in
1998 for
spying on Aged-Pensioner lobby groups and the annual Teddy Bear Picnic. It was
the OIU which illegally kept files from it's disgraced predecessor, Victorian
Police's Special Branch.
Australian citizens are being persecuted for highlighting the human rights
atrocities that their government has been complicit in perpetrating. We call on
the police to drop the charges. We call on the government to abolish the secret
police. Please come on Wednesday to protest what is an unjust political
persecution.
--
Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/
Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL.VC
