Drop the Charges!
By Defend the Richmond 8 Committee
On December 12, eight people are going on trial for their part in the picket at Richmond Secondary College in Melbourne last year.
In a bloody police baton charge on December 13, 1993, several people were beaten unconscious as they participated in a non-violent picket at the school. All the violence came from the police. The aim of the picket was to stop the closure of the only secondary school in Richmond which admitted both boys and girls.
This aim had much support in the community, and the picket was endorsed by Trades Hall Council and the teacher unions. In other words it was an official industrial picket line. If the "Richmond 8" picketers are criminals, then so is every unionist in the state who stands on a picket line.
What the "Richmond 8" actually did, along with hundreds of other picketers, was to stand or sit outside the main gates of Richmond Secondary College when contractors were coming in to prepare for the all girls' school which replaced it. What they are charged with is "resisting", "hindering" or "obstructing" police in the execution of their duty and with "besetting premises" without lawful authority.
It would have been easy for the contractors to avoid the picket. The decision to violently smash it was a political decision by the Kennett government because of the embarrassment caused by the popular campaign. This campaign forced the Kennett government to keep the school site within the Education Department instead of selling it off for private housing and to open the small co-ed Richmond Secondary Campus.
It is now obvious that the Kennett government has made a mess of the education system. The protesters were right. By allowing the police to violently smash the Richmond picket, the Kennett government was trying to scare off anyone who might protest against a political decision. The government wanted to send the people of Victoria a message.
Unfortunately, the baton charge was not an aberration. Since then eight people have been killed by the Victorian Police, over 400 people were strip-searched at the Tasty nightclub, the pressure point tactics have been used again, and surveillance and harassment of opponents of state government policy have continued as part of police culture. Now there are attempts to make protesters pay for their actions; user-pays protests have begun in Victoria with the recent attempts to make anti-freeway campaigners pay for a recent protest action.
It is important that the "Richmond 8" not receive a criminal conviction. This can be won! All the charges are vague and badly defined in law. With enough support from people around the country, the charges can be beaten in court, and this will help protect the freedom and welfare of all Victorians.
To assist the campaign we are asking people and organisations to attend the rally, December 12, 10am, at the Melbourne Magistrate's Court, corner of William and Lonsdale Streets, City. Send donations to Friends of Richmond Inc — Commonwealth Bank No. 3165-1011-0681. Messages of support can be sent to FoR, PO Box 196, Richmond 3121 or ring/fax (03) 429 7450. Send letters demanding that the charges against the eight be dropped to the Department of Public Prosecutions and minister of education Don Hayward.