By Luke Hopewell, ZDNet.com.au on December 14th, 2010 (2 days ago)
The New South Wales assistant police commissioner has issued a letter to the organisers of this evening's pro-Wikileaks rally in Sydney, directly opposing the march.
(Caution Tape image by Eugene Zemlyanskiy, CC2.0)
The protesters had intended to meet at Sydney's Town Hall before marching on to the US Consulate building at Martin Place, less than a kilometre away.
The protest is in aid of free speech after several high profile organisations withdrew their support from Wikileaks and to shine light on Julian Assange's recent arrest in London.
The letter (PDF) — sent directly to Pirate Party member Rodney Serkowski from M.J. Murdoch, assistant commissioner and commander of Central Metropolitan Region — said that under Section 23 of the Summary Offences Act, the rally must be authorised by a court to be protected against various offences.
The assistant commissioner added that without a court notice authorising the rally, protesters and organisers would not have the support of the NSW Police Service.
"Under Section 26 of the Summary Offences Act, I am advising you that I oppose the holding of your public assembly," the assistant commissioner said in his correspondence.
"Please note that without an authorised public assembly you do not have protection for obstruction type offences," Murdoch added.
Serkowski told ZDNet Australia of his anger and disappointment over the letter, saying that opposing the rally violates citizen's rights to free assembly.
"This isn't your regular bunch of rag-tag protesters, these are mainstream people that are really upset about what is happening to [Julian] Assange and of course what's happening to Wikileaks in general," Serkowski said.
Serkowski said that despite the notice, the rally would go ahead at the Sydney Town Hall this evening.
"The march will still be going ahead and as far as I'm aware, all the speakers will still be coming along," he added.
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However, Serkowski added that the protest may not march to the US Consulate as originally planned.)
"We were looking to negotiate alternate routes so as to minimise the impact on traffic. We don't want to bring the city to a halt, but unfortunately they didn't want to agree to anything ... I've never had to deal with them being so against [an event]," he said.
Serkowski claimed that the NSW Police cited Oprah Winfrey's Sydney visit as one of the reasons it could not lend its support to the rally.
"They've shut down half the city for a talk show host, surely when a few people want to exercise their democratic right and walk down the road for 30 minutes to protest one of the great injustices of our time [they are opposed]," said Serkowski.
"It's shameful," he added.
The NSW Police said in a statement that the reason the assistant commissioner opposed the march in his correspondence was due to the organisers of the event failing to submit complete paperwork in a timely manner.
"The group gave one day's notice before the march saying that they intended to march on George Street to Martin Place in peak hour, but this was not acceptable to the police," the service said in a statement.
The police offered alternatives including holding a static protest, marching an alternate route or holding the march at another time.
"A similar protest last Friday was assisted by police despite the application not complying with regulations then. Police explained the requirements then and [the organisers] were well [aware] of the requirements," the police added.
The Australian Pirate Party told its followers via social messaging service Twitter that it is still working with the NSW Police to ensure public safety, despite the commissioner's opposition of the rally.
This latest rally marks the second protest in Sydney against Julian Assange's imprisonment, with the first attracting over 1000 attendees. Other rallies have been held in the other state capitals, with more to follow.
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Assault, arrests at Sydney Wikileaks rally
By Luke Hopewell, ZDNet.com.au on December 15th, 2010 (1 day ago)
Video footage courtesy of Greens' MP David Shoebridge and Mark Riboldi.
update Four men were arrested last night at a Sydney rally in aid of Wikileaks and its founder Julian Assange.
Crowds have rallied around the nation to support Wikileaks and its imprisoned founder, Julian Assange.
(Credit: Luke Hopewell/ZDNet Australia)
The NSW Police yesterday issued a letter (PDF) to the organisers of the rally voicing its opposition to the action after the Support Wikileaks Coalition aired plans to march on the US Consulate at Martin Place.
According to the NSW Police Service, the group was given permission to march along the footpath towards the consulate at 7:30pm (AEDST) last night.
When the protest march arrived at the intersection of King Street, police allege that three protesters blocked the flow of traffic, which resulted in their arrest.
A fourth man then allegedly punched an officer and was subsequently charged with assault. He is set to appear in Downing Centre Local Court on 11 January 2011.
Rally chairperson and key speaker Antony Loewenstein told ZDNet Australia today that around 800 people attended the static protest at Sydney's Town Hall, with roughly 400 embarking on the march.
Pirate Party member Rodney Serkowski said that the presence of mounted police, dog units and riot police was antagonistic.
"We worked with the police to make sure everything was fine, but the use of mounted police and bringing dogs was a little bit unnecessary," Serkowski said.
"It seemed a bit antagonistic," he added.
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Loewenstein agreed, saying that police were inflexible about the rally from the outset.
"The police were very inflexible about allowing [the march] to happen. There was a sense that they were trying to avoid any embarrassment while Oprah is in town," Loewenstein said.
Greens' MP David Shoebridge addressed the rally and also joined protesters in their march on the US Consulate.
He told ZDNet Australia that a wall of officers blocked the march along the footpath before organisers liaised with police to facilitate a way through.
"To walk on the public footpath is the right of any citizen of NSW," Shoebridge said.
According to Shoebridge, police had a heavy hand with protesters, who were simply exercising their rights.
"At a number of points, police reformed the cordon and bottlenecked protesters. Pushing and shoving occurred between protesters and the cordon," he recounted.
"At the intersection of George and King streets, a bottleneck formed. Protestors began crossing the road on a walk signal and when the intersection went back to don't walk, people were still filtering through the intersection."
Shoebridge said that police and riot squads dragged at least two protesters from the intersection by their limbs, with mounted officers forcing people back to the footpath, which he was able to capture on video using a mobile phone.
"I saw two people physically dragged away and arrested. After that fracas the police did what they should have in the first place and stopped traffic so that the protesters could cross the street," he said.
Shoebridge added that if the police had worked with the protesters and stopped traffic to cross an intersection, there would have been no public disturbances.
"I saw some very physical force used by police," Shoebridge said.
Loewenstein and Serkowski both maintain that the scuffles have not tarnished the message of support.
"I don't know who the fault lies with here but generally you always get a few people who do, you know, make a bit of trouble. But the issue of Wikileaks transcends left and right divides," said Serkowski.
Organisers are planning an even bigger group action on 15 January 2011. And public events before that time will depend on the results of Assange's legal battle in London.
Spreading the message
Political activist group GetUp! today took out a full page advertisement in The Australian urging Prime Minister Gillard to stand up for the rights of Julian Assange and to support Wikileaks' actions.
GetUp's advertisement in today's Australian.
(Credit: Luke Hopewell/ZDNet Australia)
GetUp! is set to publish a similar open letter in The Washington Times and The New York Times to US President Barack Obama and US Attorney General Eric Holder to do the same.
GetUp! told ZDNet Australia in a statement that it chose The Washington Times after it called for "the death of Julian Assange" and selected The New York Times due to the prestige of the masthead itself.
The US advertisements are slated for print in tomorrow's editions.
So far, 91,429 people have signed the GetUp! petition, with 9187 people donating a grand total of $363,564 to take out the print ads.
"It works out at an average donation of $39.50 per person," GetUp! said.
GetUp! was unsure of the cost of the advertisements, saying that the deals were worked out between the publication using ad buyers.
Wikileaks has polarised the world. Have your say in our global ZDNet poll!
Updated at 2:24pm, 15 December 2010: added Greens' MP David Shoebridge's account and arrest video.
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