A New South Wales court has ruled a weekend rally about refugee rights in Sydney should be prohibited.
Key points:
- Police went to court to stop a refugee rights protest on Saturday
- A second rally on Friday evening has been organised by Black Lives Matter protesters
- The protests follow last week's march, which 20,000 people attended
Hundreds of people were expected to attend Saturday's gathering at Town Hall in the CBD, which was organised by the Refugee Action Coalition and registered with authorities.
NSW Police asked the Supreme Court for an order declaring it prohibited due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Justice Michael Walton ruled in favour of police, saying the risks of coronavirus remained despite low transmission rates.
"In my view the balancing of those public health risks, even in their now-mitigated form as a result of governmental public health measures, outweighs the rights of public assembly and free speech in the current context," he said.
NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mick Willing urged those thinking of attending the protest to obey the court's decision.
"While the NSW Police Force recognises and supports the rights of individuals to exercise their right to free speech in normal circumstances, these are not normal circumstances," Assistant Commissioner Willing said.
"I want to be clear about this — if people choose to break the law and attend this protest, police will not hesitate to take the appropriate action against them."
Lachlan Gyles SC, for NSW Police, argued if the court did not make an order prohibiting the event, "the power of police to deal with the attendees will be curtailed".
The judge would effectively be "ignoring" current public health orders, he said, accusing organisers of playing "Russian roulette" with the health of attendees.
"This isn't trying to shut down free speech … people can assemble in electronic ways, not physically."
The organisers insisted they could use email lists and Facebook posts to urge social distancing and the use of masks.
A key part of the argument centred on the expected number of participants, which was far lower than last weekend's Black Lives Matter rally.
James Supple, who organised the rally on behalf of the Refugee Action Coalition, told the court he would be "quite pleased" if they managed to get the expected turnout of 200 people.
He insisted a crowd of several hundreds could be "managed" and the risk of coronavirus was "exceedingly low" given current NSW community transmission rates.
"I don't accept it's a gross breach of the guidelines," Mr Supple said.
Barrister Emmanuel Kerkyasharian, for the organisers, said the idea that protests could be delayed was "frightening".
"The purpose of this protest is to deal with people who are in prison against their will, in effect," he told the court.
"Every day matters. Every day that that goes on matters."
In a second protest, activists linked to last weekend's Black Lives Matter march said they would rally outside Town Hall on Friday night, with up to 3,000 people expected to attend.
One of the groups behind Friday's rally is the Indigenous Social Justice Association.
Spokesman Raul Bassi said he believed police were talking tough to deter people from attending.
"I have a long experience with this sort of stuff. When people are ready to come (to rallies), police know they need to let it go," Mr Bassi said.
"Anything is possible, but I don't expect arrests."
He confirmed organisers had not submitted the required paperwork to police authorising the rally, because planning for it only began on Tuesday night.
Assistant Commissioner Willing said police would be enforcing public health orders, and didn't rule out arrests.
"Whilst we are well aware of the sensitivities around the current issues being debated in the public … tomorrow's event is not authorised, we will have significant resources around the city and in the city, and we will be enforcing the current health order," he said.
"At the current time with the current health restrictions in place I am asking people not to attend that public gathering tomorrow … I'm implore people to express their views in different ways."
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said anyone who breached public health orders should be fined.
"But with whatever action people take outside the health order has consequences … in terms of what is acceptable within the law."
About 20,000 people protested against Indigenous deaths in custody in Sydney last weekend, after a ban on the rally was overturned 12 minutes before it was due to start.
NSW Police had initially won an injunction in the Supreme Court on Friday which prohibited the rally from going ahead, but the Court of Appeal overturned it.
The decision meant the gathering was lawful and protesters were immune from prosecution if they breached public health orders.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiWmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTA2LTExL2NvdXJ0LWJsb2Nrcy1zeWRuZXktcmVmdWdlZS1yaWdodHMtcHJvdGVzdC8xMjM0MjgwONIBJ2h0dHBzOi8vYW1wLmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvYXJ0aWNsZS8xMjM0MjgwOA?oc=5
2020-06-11 11:56:36Z
52780845670838
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Court prohibits refugee rights protest in Sydney after NSW Police appeal - ABC News"
Post a Comment