Charges Against Woomera Demonstrator Dropped At the Magistrate's Court in Port Augusta on Monday, the charge of trespassing was dropped against David McKay, one of the two members of the Refugee Embassy, which has been parked outside of Woomera for the past two months.
McKay was told by one of the arresting officers on April 1st, that the charges would be dropped at the last minute. "That way, you won't even get your day in court," he taunted. McKay was arrested 100 metres away from the border fence at the Woomera Detention Centre, and charged with trespassing. When the police prosecutor read the facts of the arrest, he immediately asked for it to be dropped, realising that there was no way that a charge of trespassing could be upheld if the defendant was 100 metres away from the property on which he was supposed to have been trespassing. The arrest followed disclosure by the pair, which included Ross Parry, a 44-year-old music teacher from Newcastle, NSW, that they intended to stay on in Woomera after the Easter demonstration, so that they could arrange visits with detainees on a regular basis, through legal channels. Moments after the last busload of demonstrators left the campsite,on April 1st, McKay was arrested. A condition of bail was that he could not return to the township of Woomera. Consequently, the bus being used as a "refugee embassy" had to be parked some seven kilometres away, at the Pimba Roadhouse. "It's a clear case of wrongful arrest," McKay said at the time, and he repeated his complaint yesterday. "The whole idea was to obstruct us in our efforts to visit the detainees, and to make us look like law-breakers, even though our position throughout the Easter weekend had been one of moderation and co-operation with the authorities." Travel to and from his home in Newcastle, New South Wales, in order to appear in court on Monday, cost more than $500. Had he been found guilty, there would have been a fine of $100. "The police succeeded in punishing me by deliberately making a false arrest," McKay complained. He said that he would be looking into the possibility of suing the police for wrongful arrest. In the meantime, McKay and Parry have announced that they will be preparing a newspaper, called the Freedom Banner, to be posted to Woomera detainees each week, as part of their efforts to give hope and encouragement to the asylum seekers who are being held there. They earlier offered their services to teach English and music as fulltime volunteers, but the offer was refused by authorities at the reception centre, on the grounds that their presence at the Easter demonstration made them a risk to the security and smooth operation of the centre. Dave McKay & Ross Parry Refugee Embassy, Woomera 5720 Phone 0407-238805 UTS CRICOS Provider Code: 00099F DISCLAIMER ======================================================================== This email message and any accompanying attachments may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, do not read, use, disseminate, distribute or copy this message or attachments. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender, except where the sender expressly, and with authority, states them to be the views the University of Technology Sydney. Before opening any attachments, please check them for viruses and defects. ========================================================================
