Australia Jails Peaceful Protestor
- Thread starter Goodvibes
- Start date
Happy
Super Anarchist
Most of it. Those who insist on driving 20kph below the speed limit should be tortured before being shot.
Thank fuck I don't live in that hellhole anymore.
The Dark Knight
Super Anarchist
Don’t forget bicycle riders who block traffic when riding on the road.
ShortForBob
Super Anarchist
Seems that even NSW has some sensible judges.
Handed the crown prosecutor their arse on a plate.
The court was played a short video showing helicopter shots of the bridge and the Crown argued at least three lanes of traffic were affected.
"The evidence doesn't show that at all," Judge Mark Williams said, after also commenting that it appeared like a normal morning.
Ms Maxwell Williams said the incident was not a peaceful protest, but "an overt and deliberate disruption of the peace in Sydney that morning with the normal flow of traffic on a main arterial road, during peak hour, brought to a standstill".
Judge Williams rejected the Crown's suggestion Ms Coco was a "danger to the community" and had "no insight into her offending".
And the NSW police got a pasting too.
The court heard Ms Coco was sentenced on a "false factual basis" after a set of police facts claimed an ambulance under lights and sirens was prevented from attending an emergency due to the incident.
But that claim has since been retracted and Judge Williams asked how it found its way into the matter.
"That's something the police will have to answer to," Ms Coco's lawyer, Michael Blair, said.
The court heard Ms Coco had engaged in nine separate incidents of similar offending across three states in the two years leading up to the bridge protest and the Crown argued her behaviour had "escalated in extremity".
But Mr Blair said her history was being "blown out of proportion" and there could be no doubt she was motivated by genuine beliefs about climate change.
www.abc.net.au
Handed the crown prosecutor their arse on a plate.
The court was played a short video showing helicopter shots of the bridge and the Crown argued at least three lanes of traffic were affected.
"The evidence doesn't show that at all," Judge Mark Williams said, after also commenting that it appeared like a normal morning.
Ms Maxwell Williams said the incident was not a peaceful protest, but "an overt and deliberate disruption of the peace in Sydney that morning with the normal flow of traffic on a main arterial road, during peak hour, brought to a standstill".
Judge Williams rejected the Crown's suggestion Ms Coco was a "danger to the community" and had "no insight into her offending".
And the NSW police got a pasting too.
The court heard Ms Coco was sentenced on a "false factual basis" after a set of police facts claimed an ambulance under lights and sirens was prevented from attending an emergency due to the incident.
But that claim has since been retracted and Judge Williams asked how it found its way into the matter.
"That's something the police will have to answer to," Ms Coco's lawyer, Michael Blair, said.
The court heard Ms Coco had engaged in nine separate incidents of similar offending across three states in the two years leading up to the bridge protest and the Crown argued her behaviour had "escalated in extremity".
But Mr Blair said her history was being "blown out of proportion" and there could be no doubt she was motivated by genuine beliefs about climate change.
Jail sentence overturned for climate change activist who blocked Sydney Harbour Bridge
Climate activist Deanna "Violet" Coco last year was handed a 15-month jail sentence but that has been overturned by the NSW District Court.
www.abc.net.au
