Kenan denied legal aid on assault charge
By Peter McGregor
The case of Sean Kenan is due to come before the ACT Supreme Court on March 17.
Sean was arrested at the anti-Aidex demonstrations in Canberra in November 1991 and charged with assaulting two senior police. He claimed the police assaulted him when they entered the protesters' camp in breach of an agreement not to.
Furthermore, Sean has laid a complaint with both the Human Rights Commission and Amnesty International that he was subsequently tortured for five hours. (This has yet to be investigated pending resolution of the assault charges.)
Sean claims that the police bashed him unconscious, suffocated him, squeezed his eyeballs and poured water down his throat until he choked.
Nearly all charges resulting from the Aidex demonstrations — 234 people were arrested — were dropped as soon as they came to court in early 1992. But Sean's matter is still to be heard before judge and jury.
Sean has been denied legal aid on the debatable grounds that (a) the charge is not serious, and he is not in danger of "loss of livelihood" — Sean is currently an unemployed street musician, though previously he has been a child-care worker.
On October 23 Justice Gallop of the ACT Supreme Court supported Sean's request for such aid, and even referred his own support on to attorney-general Michael Duffy. Yet Sean's appeal was rejected by a review committee.
Back in court again on February 26, Sean reminded Justice Higgins of his right to legal representation contained in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, particularly in cases of alleged torture and/or political persecution.
Higgins agreed that for Sean to appear unrepresented against the fully represented police would be unfair and unjust.
Higgins acknowledged the recent High Court decision that any defendant who is convicted unrepresented can have the conviction overturned. He turned to the prosecution for help, but to no avail. So he ruled that the court would request the Legal Aid Office to reconsider.
Should the Legal Aid Office not grant aid, the court has only one reasonable option: to dismiss the charges on the grounds that Sean can't receive a fair trial without legal representation.
On the evening of February 26 a benefit was held for Sean in Canberra. nderson and Sean and an Aboriginal Legal Service field officer. Music was provided by a variety of street bands, including Wivestale, P. Harness and TRASH, and there was some wonderful poetry, including Denis Kevans. A range of people came forward and spoke about their experiences of police violence and intimidation.
The benefit demonstrated support for a proposed Coalition Against Police Violence, as in some other states.
Sean and others in Canberra have been publishing, since May 1992, an alternative news-sheet, The Story Behind the News. To contact it, or the Sean Kenan Defence Campaign, or the ACT Policewatch Coalition, write to GPO Box 3056, Canberra 2601.