Police target refugee solidarity activists
Channel: Workers BushTelegraph
Date: 19/11/2020

For the second time in the last month there is video evidence of police making serious unprovoked attacks on refugee activists. The refugee solidarity activists are seeking to free people medivac’d to Australia from offshore detention by Christmas. Both activists assaulted by police are peaceful and reasonable people.

The first attack took place at a refugee rights rally in Brisbane on Sunday 25 Oct 2020. A public video shows a member of the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) being ‘king hit’ from behind by Senior Constable David Giddins (Public “Safety” Response Team). Snr Cnst Giddins is shown in the thumbnail of this video growling at refugee activists after knocking down a NTEU union member.

The second assault by police took place on Monday evening (16 Nov 2020) at the Brisbane Immigration Transit Accommodation (BITA). This video shows two police grab a solidarity activist in the middle of a peaceful protest march on a quiet road at Brisbane Immigration Transit Accomodation Centre (BITA) in Pinkenba near Brisbane. Police wrestle the man to the ground after placing him in a savage headlock. They twist his arms behind his back and handcuff him with his face down in the gravel beside the road. A third police officer (male) then assaults an eye witness by grabbing her around the waist and begins pushing and shoving her. He appears to be in the process of arresting her until other eyewitnesses come forward and begin filming the incident with their phones.

Police have retaliated against the refugee solidarity activists since a number of people prevented the forceable extraction of a leading refugee from the Kangaroo Apartments in June 2020. SERCO guards attempted force-able extraction of refugee from Kangaroo Point Apartments detention in June 2020 (pictured in thumbnail). That refugee has now been removed by force to Villawood Detention Centre in Sydney.

Police have been silent on this last attack but claimed the first against the unionist was ‘appropriate’. NTEU State Secretary Michael McNally disagreed defending his member against the attack which was unprovoked.

Ian Curr
19 Nov 2020