--- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], "dale mills" <dalemills2000(AT)hotmail.com> wrote:
An official call has gone out by the Legal Observers Project / UTS
Community Legal Centre for victims and witnesses of individual acts
of police violence to come forward. The call has gone out on
Indymedia, Sydney Active, Socialist Worker and Green Left Weekly plus
lots of individual mailing lists.
The police say that 31 demonstrators were arrested and released
without charge. Our figures are 50 at an absolute minimum. There is
also one arrest leading to charge, plus a rumour of a further arrest
leading to charge. We need to collate all the legal observer
reports, photos and videos, plus the first aid reports and this is
taking a while. we also need to wait for the results of some medical
examinations and x-rays to come through.
the Legal Observers Project will definitely be making a detailed
complaint to the Ombudsman. Our preliminary findings are that the
horse charge was without warning and resulted in a high level of
injuries. Additionally, there were several reports of 'mandibular'
holds, which is an illegal technique used by some police officers. it
is illegal as it can result in unconsciousness with the associated
risk of fatality.
Apart from pursuing the complaint we are looking at the possibility
of civil damages. Protesters in Melbourne have made some money out
of illegal police behaviour and there is no reason why Sydney police
should not be held accountable for their illegal behaviour. However
this is early stages and the law can move slowly.
The legal issue will run over the next few months (at least) but
victims and witnesses are asked to make WRITTEN statements and send
them to us. I have reproduced general information about this below.
there will be a legal update at the next M1 meeting.
FINALLY, IF YOU HAVE SUFFERED AN INJURY, PLEASE INFORM ME ABOUT IT.
I am collecting names and numbers and we will pursue this.
Also find below a holding letter that has been sent to the Ombudsman
already on behalf of M1. There is no special urgency in M1 making a
complaint, although getting in details in the next month would be
good. In an case, the Legal Observers Project will be making a
separate complaint.
Please ring my home number which is 9571 5387 anytime up till 10.00pm
if there are any questions or you want to report any injuries.
Dale
----
General statement
At the M1 demonstration in Sydney on 1 May 2002 a number of concerns
were expressed about the police (to put it mildly). The
demonstration saw some of the most aggressive policing seen in Sydney
for a number of years. This included a police charge on a horseback
into demonstrators without warning and the very high number of
injuries sustained by protesters.
The Legal Observers Project is collecting evidence on police violence
used on the day. We are making a detailed submission to the
Ombudsman and the more evidence we have to support the complaint the
better.
People who would like to make a complaint should contact us. If you
want to talk about any legal aspects of the demonstration, please
ring me (Dale) on 9571 5387.
However, we really need written evidence to support the complaints.
Please put the complaints in writing, recalling as much detail as
possible, with times and places if you can remember them. Its ok if
you cant remember many details, as we have lots of independent
evidence so we can piece things together. Please sign and date the
complaint and send it to us.
If you have received medical attention, from the first aiders on the
day or at hospital or from your doctor afterwards, please mention
this with details as well. If you still have visible injuries
(bruising, scratches etc) please detail this and consider taking a
photo of it.
Finally, when you send us your statement, please include a line
saying that you allow us (the Legal Observers Project) to send this
to the Ombudsman on your behalf.
After the excitement of the demonstration, it might be tempting to
put the events of M1 behind you and prepare for the next action. But
our preliminary findings are that the police clearly acted illegally
on the day with excessive force. Its only by following up events
like this that we can hope to make the legal right to protest a bit
safer in the future.
Please send your written statements to
The Legal Observers Project
C/- Community Law and Legal Research Centre
University of Technology, Sydney
PO Box 123
Broadway
Sydney 2007
Or if you want to talk about this, ring Dale Mills of the Legal
Observers Project on 9571 5387.
----
M1 letter to Ombudsman
NSW Ombudsmans Office Zanny Begg
Level 24 (address deleted)
580 George Street
Sydney
NSW 2000 2 May, 2002
Dear Sir or Madam,
I'm writing on behalf of the organisation M1.
We helped to organise a demonstration on 1 May 2002 outside the
offices of Australasian Correctional Management, Sydney. The
demonstration received a large amount of media attention.
We wish to complain about the use of police horses to charge
protesters which resulted in a large number of injuries.
We are currently collating written statements, obtaining photographs,
details of injuries and other supporting documentation relevant to
this complaint.
We shall write to you again within the next 14 days with this
supporting documentation.
Yours faithfully,
Zanny Begg
M1 Collective
--
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