Conservationist Ambushed and Attacked Yesterday afternoon, a local conservationist and farmer was ambushed and attacked by a number of timber workers while driving home. He was alone in his vehicle two kilometres out of the timber town of Orbost, East Gippsland, when his vehicle was stopped in a bold daylight ambush. The timber workers ripped his clothing while attempting to pull him out of the vehicle, swinging punches and chains at him. He managed to retain control of the vehicle, wrestling the steering wheel from his assailant, and he escaped, shaken but unharmed. This incident follows another violent incident in the Otways last week in which a tour guide was knocked unconscious when he was hit in the head with an axe handle by a logging contractor. He was hospitalised following the serious assault with profuse bleeding to the head and concussion. On the same day, a timber worker ran over a tent that contained two young women, while yelling die for the forest. "These attacks are part of a campaign of violence designed to intimidate conservationists." said spokesperson for the protesters, Fiona York. "However, these cowardly acts will not weaken our resolve to protect these forests. The RFA fraud has caused the situation in the forest to reach flashpoint. "These intimidation tactics are an assault on our public right to protest. We demand that the leaders of the timber industry pull their boot boys into line." All these incidences are currently under investigation by the police. O t w a y s R a n g e s E n v i r o n m e n t N e t w o r k An affilliation of Otway's residents, regional and Victorian conservation groups, Community groups and campus conservation networks [EMAIL PROTECTED] (OREN Propaganda) WEB SITE http://www.oren.org.au DO NOT assume that any act of damage to logging equipment or logging infrastructure is done by conservationists or members of anti - logging groups. - Victorian Police (internal memo) Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List As vilified, slandered and attacked by One Nation mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
