‘Absurd' dropped charge for protester Hannah Thomas raises police bias questions
On Monday, the Sydney Morning Herald revealed Thomas had been charged under the laws introduced in late 2005 to give police more powers to stop "large-scale demonstrations" in the wake of the Cronulla riots in December that year.
Advocates say the treatment of pro-Palestinian protesters by NSW Police is highly concerning. Source: AAP / Flavio Brancaleone But some lawyers say they are shocked the charge was ever laid, as the emergency police powers outlined in LEPRA cannot be invoked without high-level approval from the commissioner of police or premier, and cannot apply retroactively if that approval was never given.
"Even the police say that this would be an inappropriate misuse of police powers — in the NSW police submission when these laws were reviewed they said a peaceful assembly could never be categorised as a riot or other civil disturbance," Human Rights Centre senior lawyer David Mejia-Canales told SBS News.
Hannah Thomas in hospital being treated for her eye injury, in a still taken from a video on her Instagram page. Source: Instagram / Hannah Thomas Meija-Canales said the laws give police "unbelievable powers" that aren't often used "for good reason". "The fact that these laws have been used and the charges have been removed under a review where the police haven't actually explained why they were laid in the first place, that raises incredible concerns," he said.
"We're also really concerned about the fact that police do seem to be targeting protests for Palestine and also protests for climate action, maybe disproportionately and with incredible force, compared to other types of peaceful assemblies."
Police confirmed four others were arrested on 27 June but were not charged with the same anti-riot offence as Thomas, as about 60 people protested outside a Sydney firm they say is manufacturing material used in Israeli fighter jets.
A still from an undated video showing police and protesters clashing outside a Sydney factory. The protesters said the factory was supplying material used in Israeli fighter jets. Source: AAP / Amanda King and Fabio Cavadini/PR IMAGE What are NSW's anti-riot laws? In 2005, following the Cronulla riots, then-NSW Premier Morris Iemma recalled parliament to vote on legislation which would give police more powers to force people to move along amid large-scale demonstrations where there was a risk of public disorder, and seize and detain objects and search people without a warrant.
Iemma stated the powers "are not intended to be used in respect of peaceful protests, union demonstrations and the like".
They haven't been invoked for protests since 2011. Since their introduction, police have not clarified how many people would constitute a "large-scale" demonstration. In October 2023, NSW deputy police commissioner David Hudson told reporters he was seeking to enable the anti-riot powers before a pro-Palestinian rally in Sydney's Hyde Park, a decision backed by Premier Chris Minns. A legal case was brought against the proposal and police ultimately backed down, choosing not to invoke the emergency powers.
Senior lawyer at Redfern Legal Centre Sam Lee said section 6A of LEPRA gives police extensive powers to move people on only if there is a risk of public disturbance.
She said it was "absurd" to have levelled them against Thomas and "there are allegations police used powers unlawfully" against the former Greens candidate for Grayndler. "They're very extensive powers and certainly I think it would've been just not required in this situation," Lee told SBS News.
"I would be surprised if anyone in the police department actually approved these charges of such calibre and therefore why an officer charged someone under 6A ... it just doesn't make sense".
Allegations of bias Australian Democracy Network (ADN) protest rights campaigner Anastasia Radievska said it's "extra worrying" police were "attempting to charge somebody for not complying with powers that they weren't aware existed at the time" at the protest Thomas attended. Radievska also pointed out it's not clear on what legal basis police issued a move-on order to the demonstrators.
"That's kind of the big unanswered question: under what legal authority were these quite extreme uses of force undertaken and the charges brought."
She said in NSW "there's been an escalating pattern of police violence at protests where there's large representation of Muslim communities and similarly protests where there's basically communities that are already vulnerable to policing when they demonstrate in large numbers".
A recent ADN report stated police have imposed particularly heavy-handed directions, surveillance and restrictions on protests carried out by SWANA (South West Asian and North African) and First Nations communities since 2019, based on reports from independent legal observers.
Pro-Palestinian protesters in Sydney's Hyde Park in November last year. There has been regular pro-Palesitian protests in Sydney since the start of the Hamas-Israel war. Source: AAP / Flavio Brancaleone "In 2023-24, police in NSW were observed by independent legal observers to target cars with Palestinian flags driving near Hyde Park during a rally for stop and searches, with drivers being fined for minor infringements such as tucking P plates under a number plate instead of on a bracket," the report states. "Police were also observed to be writing down the number plates of vehicles with Palestinian flags. None of the other many cars passing by the area were stopped and searched or had their vehicles recorded by police."
SBS News contacted NSW Police for comment on claims the force appeared to be targeting protesters disproportionately. A spokesperson referred to McFadden's earlier statement on Thomas' charges and said further comment would not be provided as the matter is before the court.
Mejia-Canales said since October 2023 there has been a "weaponisation of the law to target protests for Palestine". "The most recent objections that police have had — where they lodged Supreme Court challenges to prevent protests from going ahead — were protests for Palestine, particularly one that was going to occur one year after the Hamas attacks in Israel." He said this was despite peaceful protests happening in support of Palestinians "every week for a year". "The overwhelming number of those protests have been peaceful, but police still sought to block a protest from going ahead, a protest for peace in Palestine based on some ridiculous assessment, including that the planter boxes that are outside town hall in Sydney are going to be dangerous somehow to protesters. "I mean, it really does seem that the police is really just clutching at straws to kind of weaponise more laws to prevent protests from happening, in particular protests regarding peace in Palestine."
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