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The Guardian
a day ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
NSW police yet to withdraw protest charge against Hannah Thomas as promised as she pleads not guilty
New South Wales police are yet to withdraw a charge against pro-Palestine protester Hannah Thomas that relied on a rarely used emergency power introduced in the wake of the 2005 Cronulla riots. Thomas was arrested and charged alongside four others at a pro-Palestine protest in Sydney on 27 June that was attended by about 60 people at SEC Plating. The 35-year-old was taken to hospital, with her lawyers alleging a police officer punched her in the face. Last week Thomas underwent a second round of surgery amid fears she could lose sight in her right eye. The former Greens candidate had her matter briefly heard in Bankstown local court on Tuesday, where her solicitor Stewart O'Connell said Thomas would plead not guilty to three charges: resisting police, failure to comply with a move on direction, and refusing or failing to comply with a direction to disperse. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email The last charge is yet to be withdrawn, despite the assistant commissioner Brett McFadden saying last week it would be. McFadden said in a statement last week after he launched a review to examine whether the charges against Thomas were relevant and appropriate, that the latter charge – which falls under laws used to quell 'large-scale public disorders' and which were introduced in the wake of the Cronulla riots – would be dropped. He said Thomas would instead face a charge of failing to comply with a move on direction. However, on Tuesday the court heard Thomas was facing all three charges, and the prosecutor Chris Allison said none had been withdrawn yet. Allison, who is a solicitor for the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions, told the court on Tuesday the DPP had taken over Thomas' matter from police. On Monday, in a statement calling for charges against Thomas to be withdrawn, Thomas's lawyers at O'Brien Criminal and Civil Solicitors alleged that a police officer punched her in the face during the protest, resulting in 'extensive and serious injury to her eye'. Her lawyers said they had taken the unusual step of commenting on the case while criminal proceedings against their client were under way after viewing the police's body cam footage. They flagged that Thomas will sue the state of New South Wales 'for the actions of the NSW police officers connected to her apprehension, injury, detention, and prosecution'. Days after Thomas's arrest, McFadden told ABC radio that he had viewed the body-worn video and there was 'no information at this stage that's before me that indicates any misconduct on behalf of my officers'. Thomas' arrest has been declared a critical incident by police, which means an investigation into the incident will be overseen by the independent police watchdog. Protesters claimed SEC Plating, at where the 27 June protest took place, was manufacturing parts used in the F-35 jet program. However, SEC Plating has denied that this is the case. The four protesters who were charged alongside Thomas also had their matters heard on Tuesday in Bankstown. All pleaded not guilty to their various charges relating to the protest and their arrests. This included Zack Schofield, 26, who is facing a charge of failing to comply with a police direction, and resisting police. On Tuesday he had a bail condition removed that had restricted him from attending protests. O'Connell, a lawyer at O'Brien Criminal and Civil Solicitors, who is acting on behalf of all five protesters, told the court during Schofield's bail variation hearing that: 'There's no objective evidence which I have seen which clearly shows he resisted.' 'We say that [direction from police] is clearly unlawful.' Outside the court on Tuesday, O'Connell said: 'Every minute that these charges persist is another minute of injustice'. 'The charges are ludicrous. There is objective evidence in relation to all of the matters that are consistent with innocence,' he said. 'Hannah Thomas, in the meantime, she'll be doing everything she possibly can to bring accountability to the NSW police and to receive justice.' O'Connell alleged that the body-worn video depicted 'a brutal, cowardly and despicable assault'.
SBS Australia
09-07-2025
- Politics
- SBS Australia
‘Absurd' dropped charge for protester Hannah Thomas raises police bias questions
Civil liberties groups have criticised NSW Police's attempt to invoke rarely used anti-riot laws for the first time in over a decade against former Greens candidate Hannah Thomas, questioning whether police are biased against pro-Palestinian protesters. Thomas was seriously injured after being arrested at a pro-Palestinian protest in June and says she may never regain sight in her right eye. NSW Police confirmed it would seek to drop the charge relating to emergency police powers under section 6A of the Law Enforcement Powers and Responsibilities Act (LEPRA) laid on 27 June, and have added an alternate charge of refusing to comply with a direction to move on. "On Monday 30 June 2025, I put in place a process to review the charges laid in this matter to ensure the relevant and most appropriate charges are applied," NSW Police assistant commissioner Brett McFadden said in a statement. "The review is part of normal critical incident protocols." On Monday, the Sydney Morning Herald revealed Thomas had been charged under the laws introduced in late 2005 to give police more powers to stop "large-scale demonstrations" in the wake of the Cronulla riots in December that year. Advocates say the treatment of pro-Palestinian protesters by NSW Police is highly concerning. Source: AAP / Flavio Brancaleone But some lawyers say they are shocked the charge was ever laid, as the emergency police powers outlined in LEPRA cannot be invoked without high-level approval from the commissioner of police or premier, and cannot apply retroactively if that approval was never given. "Even the police say that this would be an inappropriate misuse of police powers — in the NSW police submission when these laws were reviewed they said a peaceful assembly could never be categorised as a riot or other civil disturbance," Human Rights Centre senior lawyer David Mejia-Canales told SBS News. Hannah Thomas in hospital being treated for her eye injury, in a still taken from a video on her Instagram page. Source: Instagram / Hannah Thomas Meija-Canales said the laws give police "unbelievable powers" that aren't often used "for good reason". "The fact that these laws have been used and the charges have been removed under a review where the police haven't actually explained why they were laid in the first place, that raises incredible concerns," he said. "We're also really concerned about the fact that police do seem to be targeting protests for Palestine and also protests for climate action, maybe disproportionately and with incredible force, compared to other types of peaceful assemblies." Police confirmed four others were arrested on 27 June but were not charged with the same anti-riot offence as Thomas, as about 60 people protested outside a Sydney firm they say is manufacturing material used in Israeli fighter jets. A still from an undated video showing police and protesters clashing outside a Sydney factory. The protesters said the factory was supplying material used in Israeli fighter jets. Source: AAP / Amanda King and Fabio Cavadini/PR IMAGE What are NSW's anti-riot laws? In 2005, following the Cronulla riots, then-NSW Premier Morris Iemma recalled parliament to vote on legislation which would give police more powers to force people to move along amid large-scale demonstrations where there was a risk of public disorder, and seize and detain objects and search people without a warrant. Iemma stated the powers "are not intended to be used in respect of peaceful protests, union demonstrations and the like". They haven't been invoked for protests since 2011. Since their introduction, police have not clarified how many people would constitute a "large-scale" demonstration. In October 2023, NSW deputy police commissioner David Hudson told reporters he was seeking to enable the anti-riot powers before a pro-Palestinian rally in Sydney's Hyde Park, a decision backed by Premier Chris Minns. A legal case was brought against the proposal and police ultimately backed down, choosing not to invoke the emergency powers. Senior lawyer at Redfern Legal Centre Sam Lee said section 6A of LEPRA gives police extensive powers to move people on only if there is a risk of public disturbance. She said it was "absurd" to have levelled them against Thomas and "there are allegations police used powers unlawfully" against the former Greens candidate for Grayndler. "They're very extensive powers and certainly I think it would've been just not required in this situation," Lee told SBS News. "I would be surprised if anyone in the police department actually approved these charges of such calibre and therefore why an officer charged someone under 6A ... it just doesn't make sense". Allegations of bias Australian Democracy Network (ADN) protest rights campaigner Anastasia Radievska said it's "extra worrying" police were "attempting to charge somebody for not complying with powers that they weren't aware existed at the time" at the protest Thomas attended. Radievska also pointed out it's not clear on what legal basis police issued a move-on order to the demonstrators. "That's kind of the big unanswered question: under what legal authority were these quite extreme uses of force undertaken and the charges brought." She said in NSW "there's been an escalating pattern of police violence at protests where there's large representation of Muslim communities and similarly protests where there's basically communities that are already vulnerable to policing when they demonstrate in large numbers". A recent ADN report stated police have imposed particularly heavy-handed directions, surveillance and restrictions on protests carried out by SWANA (South West Asian and North African) and First Nations communities since 2019, based on reports from independent legal observers. Pro-Palestinian protesters in Sydney's Hyde Park in November last year. There has been regular pro-Palesitian protests in Sydney since the start of the Hamas-Israel war. Source: AAP / Flavio Brancaleone "In 2023-24, police in NSW were observed by independent legal observers to target cars with Palestinian flags driving near Hyde Park during a rally for stop and searches, with drivers being fined for minor infringements such as tucking P plates under a number plate instead of on a bracket," the report states. "Police were also observed to be writing down the number plates of vehicles with Palestinian flags. None of the other many cars passing by the area were stopped and searched or had their vehicles recorded by police." SBS News contacted NSW Police for comment on claims the force appeared to be targeting protesters disproportionately. A spokesperson referred to McFadden's earlier statement on Thomas' charges and said further comment would not be provided as the matter is before the court. Mejia-Canales said since October 2023 there has been a "weaponisation of the law to target protests for Palestine". "The most recent objections that police have had — where they lodged Supreme Court challenges to prevent protests from going ahead — were protests for Palestine, particularly one that was going to occur one year after the Hamas attacks in Israel." He said this was despite peaceful protests happening in support of Palestinians "every week for a year". "The overwhelming number of those protests have been peaceful, but police still sought to block a protest from going ahead, a protest for peace in Palestine based on some ridiculous assessment, including that the planter boxes that are outside town hall in Sydney are going to be dangerous somehow to protesters. "I mean, it really does seem that the police is really just clutching at straws to kind of weaponise more laws to prevent protests from happening, in particular protests regarding peace in Palestine."
The Guardian
07-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Hannah Thomas: NSW police use emergency riot powers to justify arrest of pro-Palestine protester
New South Wales police have been accused of unlawfully or retrospectively authorising emergency powers after it was revealed Hannah Thomas had been charged under a rarely used law introduced in the wake of the 2005 Cronulla riots. The 35-year-old was arrested at a pro-Palestine protest in Sydney on 27 June that was attended by about 60 people. She was subsequently taken to hospital and this week will undergo a second round of surgery amid fears she could lose sight in her right eye. Thomas was a Greens candidate who ran against the prime minister at the federal election. Last week, Thomas was charged with resisting police and refusing or failing to comply with a direction to disperse. It was revealed on Monday that Thomas's arrest documents show that her second charge cited emergency police powers under part 6A of the Law Enforcement Powers and Responsibilities Act (Lepra). The laws, which were introduced in the wake of the Cronulla riots, require authorisation and give police a series of powers to quell 'large-scale public disorders'. An authorisation can be given by the police commissioner or by a deputy or assistant commissioner of police. The NSW Greens MLC Sue Higginson on Monday wrote a formal complaint to the police watchdog – the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (Lecc) – against the assistant commissioner Brett McFadden. She alleged he had 'issued an unlawful or retrospective authorisation to use emergency powers in violation of their conditions'. The complaint, seen by Guardian Australia, is also against the arresting officers who Higginson alleged had 'issued unlawful move-on orders and made unlawful arrests'. Five protesters, including Thomas, were arrested and charged at Belmore. McFadden, in a statement prior to the complaint being filed, said that he had put in place a process last Monday to review the charges laid against Thomas. 'I put in place a process to review the charges laid in this matter to ensure the relevant and most appropriate charges are applied. The review is part of normal critical incident protocols,' he said. McFadden said NSW police were unable to provide further information given the matter was now before the courts and subject to a critical incident investigation overseen by the Lecc. Higginson noted in her letter to the Lecc that an authorisation to use the emergency powers required an officer to have reasonable grounds for believing 'there is a large-scale public disorder occurring or a threat of such disorder occurring'. She wrote that for a commissioner to have reasonable grounds for this belief, they needed to establish a riot or other civil disturbance that 'gives rise to a serious risk to public safety' was occurring or was about to occur. They also need to establish that the 'exercise of those powers is reasonably necessary to prevent or control the public disorder'. Higginson said video from the scene showed police officers issued move-on orders and then arrested protesters after they questioned what Lepra powers were being relied on. Video footage suggested one of the protesters later charged, Zach Schofield, was grabbed by a police officer after he asked what legislation empowered the officers to move on the protesters. In the video, an officer can be heard telling the protesters they are being issued a move-on order and are required to leave Belmore and not return for 24 hours. A protester can be heard saying: 'What legislation is empowering you to do this? Can you name it please because this is actually counter to Lepra.' The protester is cut off mid-sentence when asking about the legislation as police officers move to grab him. A scuffle ensues, according to the video footage seen by Guardian Australia. Higginson argued in a statement about the complaint that 'there was no evidence whatsoever to form the basis to invoke the extraordinary police community control powers'. 'The event was intended and was a small lawful gathering of people protesting about SEC Plating and the genocide taking place in Gaza,' she said. Sign up to Morning Mail Our Australian morning briefing breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion 'When an officer exercises these powers after being authorised, any person given the direction must be informed that the direction is to prevent or control a public disorder.' Higginson said the appearance of the emergency powers on the arrest documents for Thomas was 'concerning' and suggested an assistant commissioner or above 'must have authorised their use and they must have believed that a large-scale public disorder was about to take place'. 'The other possibility for these emergency powers to be mentioned is that the NSW police are currently engaging in reverse engineering evidence to justify the [alleged] assault of an innocent member of the community. 'At no point over the last 10 days have any of the police, the premier, or the minister for police referred to public disorder, let alone large-scale public disorder.' The 27 June protest was outside SEC Plating, which protesters claimed was manufacturing parts used in the F-35 jet program. However, SEC Plating has denied this is the case. When part 6A of Lepra was introduced in response to the Cronulla riots, then premier Iemma Morris stated that 'these powers are not intended to be used in respect of peaceful protests, union demonstrations and the like'. In October 2023, the NSW deputy police commissioner David Hudson told reporters during a press conference that he was seeking to enable the riot powers before a rally in Sydney's Hyde Park. The announcement came amid fierce backlash against a 9 October rally outside the Sydney Opera House during which some people – who were not part of the initial protest – were chanting antisemitic slurs. On Friday, during an upper house parliamentary inquiry into antisemitism, Hudson defended the right to protest at that 9 October rally. 'We can't prevent the free movement of people throughout the city just because you're in a protest. You can walk down the street, the footpath,' he said. 'Bearing in mind, at that particular protest at the Town Hall, there were a lot of women, children [and] women pushing prams. 'It's not like we were going to put walls up and start boxing on with these people who have a right to protest.' Comment was sought from NSW police on Monday.
SBS Australia
19-05-2025
- SBS Australia
NSW police reach out to domestic and family violence victims with ‘Empower You' mobile app
'Empower You' app is designed as a one-stop platform for domestic and family violence victims to facilitate them in creating a record of ongoing abuse, view local DV services options, and send urgent text messages if needed. The app is available in 11 different languages, including Hindi and Punjabi languages. Empower You app on a phone Credit: Moon LUO, Auburn Police Area Command 'NSW is culturally diverse, so it is imperative we are working with our multicultural communities to maintain public safety and prevent crime. The 'Empower You' app is a crucial tool in our fight against domestic violence. By expanding its accessibility, we are empowering more victims to seek help and ensuring that our support services are available to everyone,' NSW Police Multi-Cultural Portfolio Sponsor, Assistant Commissioner Brett McFadden said. Domestic violence victim, a young woman being hurt Credit: pepifoto/Getty Images Police have also created new signage in different languages with a QR code for easy access to the app. The signs are being distributed to local businesses and other community facilities in various languages. 'Empower You' app, developed as part of the commitment to ensuring better outcomes for victims of domestic and family violence across the state, was launched in July 2023 by NSW police. In a statement, NSW police said more than 24,000 users have downloaded it since it's official launch. Anyone with information relating to domestic and family-related violence is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or . Information is treated in strict confidence. Find all our podcasts here at: SBS Hindi Podcast Collection SBS Hindi 04/02/2025 16:20 SBS Hindi 15/10/2019 09:32
