Civil rights activists called for the charges against those demonstrating against Israeli president Isaac Herzog on February 9 be withdrawn outside the Downing Centre Court on June 3.
They chanted “Drop the charges now!” and “Chris Minns, you can't hide, you’re supporting genocide!”. The action was sponsored by the group Stop the War on Palestine (SWOP).
Hearings are underway for 16 demonstrators who were charged with offences including “assault, intimidation and throwing a missile at police officers” during the February 9 protest.
Nikolai Haddad from the Civil Liberties Defence Centre said the campaign to get the charges dropped is growing. “What happened at Town Hall on February 9 was politically motivated suppression. The charges that followed are built on a foundation of unlawful conduct and unconstitutional powers. Pursuing these prosecutions is not only legally untenable, it compounds the harm already done to people who were simply exercising their right to protest.”
Jenny Leong, Greens MP for Newtown, said there was “open violence by NSW police against demonstrators” at the Herzog rally. She described it as a “racist form of policing”.
She also spoke about the sexist and racist attacks she had received from police officers and others on social media after she was first elected to parliament over 10 years ago.
Adam Adelpour, a SWOP spokesperson, pointed to the ABC’s Four Corners program on June 1 that focused on NSW police brutality. He also noted that the pro-Israel holiday rental company AirBNB had been removed as a sponsor of this year’s Sydney Vivid Festival following several years of protests.
Vince Caughley, NSW secretary of the National Tertiary Education Union, said while union members on Macquarie University, University of Sydney and the University of NSW face discrimination over their support for Palestine, they are fighting back.
Mark Gillespie, a ‘78er and LGTBIQ activist, said that the anti-Herzog protest reminded him of the repression the ‘78ers had faced 50 years ago.
Charlotte, from the Anticop group, joined the call for Herzog rally charges to be immediately dropped.
The Civil Liberties Defence Centre and the NSW Council for Civil Liberties are circulating an open letter calling on the NSW Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Police, and Commissioner of Police to immediately drop all criminal charges against people arrested at the Herzog rally.