When politicans fail, police go rogue, justice fails to protect

As Israeli President Herzog leaves, leaving behind less ‘social cohesion’, politicians, judges and NSW police have many questions to answer. Wendy Bacon reports.

When politicians fail, the police resort to deceit and fail to maintain justice.

Many who witnessed the horrific police brutality said they had never seen anything like it before. On Friday, the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) announced that an independent investigation would be launched into police conduct. It will examine police operations as well as individual cases of illegal policing.

One of the issues the LECC must investigate is which politicians and senior police were involved in organizing a major increase in existing police powers shortly before Herzog’s arrival, and what instructions were given to police on the ground about these powers.

The legislation used is a little known law. Major Events Act 2009, NSW Tourism Minister Stephen Kamper has approved new regulations that will turn Herzog’s visit into a ‘major event’.

Major Events Act

The aims of the law are to provide ‘benefits’ to spectators and enhance NSW’s reputation for hosting events. The law gives special powers to plan and organize major events, including closing access to areas, searching people and using ‘reasonable force’ to compel citizens to comply with instructions.

It relieves the state of most liability for damages resulting from the exercise of these powers.

The powers have the potential to seriously affect the exercise of citizens’ political rights; This is probably why the Act includes a section stating that political protests should not be declared a major event. The law is designed to cover events of a ‘sporting, cultural or other nature’.

These police powers triggered the lack of restraint seen on Monday. This does not mean that police actions are legal, but it does mean that these are the powers with which they feel they are acting.

When questioned, a police officer who was part of two lines blocking protesters from entering City Hall Square said: “I heard something about a big incident.”

This was planned. And Chris Minns owns it.

Court challenge failed

The new arrangement was announced on Saturday, February 7, just 48 hours before Herzog’s arrival.

The Palestine Action Group (PAG), represented by Hanna Legal, had 24 hours to object to the regulation.

PAG’s claim was that the regulation was ‘unreasonable’, ‘disproportionate’ and created for the improper purpose of suppressing protests. Within an hour of NSW Supreme Court Justice Robertson Wright dismissing the appeal, NSW Police had begun using Major Incident powers.

Before dismissing the Palestine Action Group’s appeal on Monday, Judge Wright said he found both sides’ arguments convincing and found it difficult to decide. But there was no hint of ambiguity in the NSW government’s decision, which adopted almost all of its cases.

At the time of his appointment, it was stated that the judge, who was nearing retirement, was “a soldier, a historian and a gentleman”. His reasons were not published until two days later.

By then, protesters had been violently thrown to the ground while praying, and hundreds had been trapped and attacked in City Hall Square. People were blinded or asphyxiated with tear gas. Others were hospitalized with broken limbs or bleeding wounds.

76-year-old James Ricketson was injured in an attack by six police officers and was released without charge after being held in a cell without water for five hours. Videos of NSW police punching people have gone viral around the world.

Prime Minister Chris Minns, Police Minister Yasmin Catley and Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon argued police actions were ‘reasonable’ in the circumstances.

Is Chris Minns channeling Donald Trump?

Negative Is it a political event?

Few would disagree that Herzog’s visit to Australia was the most important political event of the past week. But the key to the decision was Wright’s determination that this was not the case with the Herzog visit.

Before arriving, Herzog described the purpose of his visit as rebuilding Australia’s relations with Israel. He brought with him a high-level delegation from the Jewish National Institutions. This was presented as evidence before the judge.

One of the evidence was that Chris Sidoti, who was on the UN Commission of Inquiry that found that Israel committed genocide in Gaza and Herzog provoked it, called for his arrest in Australia.

But Judge Wright found that

He stated that politics was not the ‘defining’ or ‘dominant’ purpose of the visit and that it was a ‘cultural event’.

Herzog’s tour also had cultural aspects, such as a trip to Bondi to meet victims of the December massacre and visits to synagogues and schools. But Herzog and Zionist leaders have also consistently emphasized that an important goal is to encourage the Australian government to stand with Israel.

Never before has the law been used for a visit by a foreign dignitary, or on such short notice. Until last week, no one could have imagined that this law would be used to enforce police brutality against peaceful citizens protesting the controversial visit of a foreign head of state.

But a brilliant idea from NSW Police changed that.

police concerns

As public opposition to Herzog’s visit grew, and so did support for a peaceful march from City Hall to Parliament House during Herzog’s visit, senior police became concerned that new anti-protest legislation passed on December 23 might not be enough to stop a major march in Sydney.

The ban on most of the CBD and Eastern Suburbs was extended on February 2. On the same day, according to evidence given in last week’s case, NSW police advised the government that the Major Incidents Act, with its broad powers, could help prevent any risk to Herzog during the visit, saying: “Police will have the authority to address any conduct that poses a security threat or risk to the Presidential Visit.”

It’s worth noting that nothing regarding any security threat or risk to Herzog was planned at the protest. This was also among the evidence.

The cabinet office then produced a memorandum setting out the arguments, including for and against the protests, for Tourism Minister Kamper to consider before making his decision. He was then told to sign but not date the recommendation, which was adopted by the NSW Executive Council and gazetted on Friday 6 February.

PAG’s lawyer, Felicity Graham, relied on the timing of events and material in the Cabinet minutes to argue that the regulation was announced for the improper purpose of suppressing protests. He also relied on Prime Minister Chris Minns’ media conference on Saturday, February 7, where he announced the ‘Big Event’.

Minns cited fines of more than $5,500 for 3,500 police officers for failing to comply with instructions and the need to prevent “conflict between mourners and protesters.” The latter seemed to be an idea of ​​Minns’ own making, because

It was never planned for protesters to be near mourners.

We suppress protests to keep us safe

Judge Wright agreed that it would be inappropriate if the purpose of the regulation was to suppress protests. However, it found that protests could be suppressed if consistent with the aim of facilitating ‘security and crowd control’, and that there was no intention by the Minister or any relevant person to “adversely affect any protest or right to protest other than to the extent reasonably appropriate to facilitate the conduct of the visit”.

He acknowledged that there was no evidence that the protest would upset the President, but found that it did not matter.

The judge looked a bit exasperated when PAG lawyer Felicity Graham suggested that the powers in the Regulations could lead to unfair treatment of citizens, even non-protesters.

He assumed the officers acted ‘reasonably’.

This turned out to be extremely optimistic. If the goal was to keep us all safe, it had the opposite effect.

PAG is considering the appeal. The incident is over but there are many potential claims against the police and the Act restricts liability and compensation. It may also be possible to bring up the effects of the Major Events Law on ‘freedom of expression’, which was attempted during the short one-day hearing.

A protest was held near parliament on Friday evening, with a woman with broken vertebrae speaking from her hospital bed. “We will not remain silent. O [MInns] He needs to take full responsibility for this and the laws passed. “The police who did this need to take responsibility,” he said.

If the Major Events Act can be validly used at protests, it needs to be reformed. Imagine the UN decides to hold a major climate conference in Sydney, backed by fossil fuel interests. The entire city could be closed to protesters.

Responsibility for this disaster must start at the top and extend to the police.

Prime Minister thanked Israeli friends, criticized Australian enemies | West Report