G20 arrests: Media Release : Melbourne Indymedia

Media Release 18th January, 2007

OPERATION SALVER: A CRACKDOWN ON THE RIGHT TO PROTEST

Protests are an important part of participatory democracy. The aim of the arrests and house searches that have followed the G-20 protests is to intimidate a group of young politically engaged people and stifle dissent more generally.

The laying of charges such as riot and affray constitutes a gross over-reaction by police, in the face of what was overwhelmingly a peaceful demonstration. Police have described their investigation – Operation Salver – as being concerned with ‘the upper end of criminality’. This statement is so exaggerated as to be absurd.

In fact, the intimidation and mass arrests which have followed last November’s G-20 protests is part of a wider process of the criminalisation of protest and the silencing of political opposition.

The protests surrounding the November meeting aimed to highlight issues discussed at forums such as G-20, where decisions are made about war, poverty, labour rights and climate change that impact on the planet and its people.

The G-20 protests were widely reported as being a raucous affair that, on occasion, tipped over into violence. Coverage of the protests has often been tinged with hysteria, and rumour has consistently been reported as fact.

In contrast to inflated and often inaccurate depictions of ‘protestor violence’, media coverage has overwhelmingly failed to mention or acknowledge the violence and excessive force used by police over the course of the weekend.

The posting of peoples’ photos along with the caption ‘Taskforce Salver’ and alongside media articles on the violence of the protests implies that those people are guilty or are implicated in actions, where they may not necessarily be facing any charges.

While police have yet to reveal whether the 28 people are witnesses or stated offenders, they are named on the Crime Stoppers website as ‘most wanted’. This implication of guilt has potentially severe consequences for the civil liberties and rights of those identified.

We refute the argument of Detective Superintendent Richard Grant of the Salver Task force that ‘Victoria police respect the rights of individuals and the community to protest and express their opinions lawfully’, as on many occasions peaceful protestors were treated with excessive force and prevented from lawfully protesting outside.

In particular, the peaceful protest outside Melbourne Museum on the Sunday was broken up by police with extreme and well-documented violence that left many injured, with one woman so badly hurt she required hospitalisation.

This media release was written by a collective in support of G20 arrestees.

For further comment contact: Jonathon Collerson 0438136093

G'Day Jon.

I guess the whole point of this particular police operation seems to be one of communicating the fact that behaviour of this type will be investigated rigorously and not allowed to dissipate into the ether.

If 'actvists' want to engage in obviously pre-meditated violence and vandalism, they better be prepared to accempt responsibiliy for their actions.

99% of protestors didn't cloak their identities with scarves. That's because they had no intention of behaving violently or damaging some one else's property. Once you cloak your identity in that way, you'd better be ready to accept the consequences of your decisions.

Which, of course, is a totally foreign concept to many of these people.

At major public demonstrations, police routinely remove their ID.

See this post:

http://slackbastard.anarchobase.com/?p=501

In the interests of 'balance', perhaps 'The Age' should assist the general public in identifying these 'persons of interest' by publishing their photographs as well?

"[Journalists] scrutinise power, but also exercise it, and should be accountable. Accountability engenders trust. Without trust, journalists do not fulfil their public responsibilities. Alliance members engaged in journalism commit themselves to:

Honesty;
Fairness;
Independence;
Respect for the rights of others."

http://www.alliance.org.au/hot/ethicscode.htm

(Just kidding.)