East Timor activists fined

BY JAMES VASSILOPOULOS

CANBERRA -- East Timor solidarity activist Gareth Smith was fined $16,335 on April 12 for painting the slogan, “Shame, Australia, shame”, on the front wall of federal Parliament House to protest against the Australian government's role in the violence in East Timor last year.

The ACT Magistrate's Court found Smith guilty of trespass and of willfully and unlawfully damaging commonwealth property. Mark Gwynneth and Robert Samsa were also found guilty of trespass and fined $300 each, and Charlo Grech was found guilty of trespass and fined $600.

Smith was a volunteer United Nations electoral officer from July to August last year. On September 1, a few days after the East Timorese voted for independence in the UN-organised referendum, UN volunteers were ordered to evacuate. Many Timorese people begged Smith not to leave. He promised them he would do everything he could to get peacekeepers deployed.

He and three friends decided to drop a protest banner from the top of Parliament House. When they got there, Smith, on impulse, decided to spray paint the slogan.

In court, Smith raised in self-defence the arguments of reasonable excuse, duress and necessity, a lack of intent and his psychological state. These arguments were rejected by the magistrate.

Dave Gosling from Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor condemned the magistrate's decision. “Australian prime ministers -- from Gough Whitlam to John Howard -- have supported repression in East Timor, yet not one has been tried in an Australian or international court. Meanwhile, protesters trying to stop genocide are fined. This is a real injustice”, said Gosling.

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