January 8, 2010
TVNZ – 8 January 2010
Two more people protesting against Israeli tennis player Shahar Peer’s presence at the ASB Classic have been arrested.
It follows the arrest of five protesters at the venue on Thursday.
The group of protesters say they are targeting Peer because there is an international consensus that the best way to challenge Israel’s “brutal oppression of Palestinians” is through an international boycott, disinvestment and sanctions campaign.
So far, the protests have had no effect on Peer’s performance, with her advancing to the tournament semi-finals.
An account of the protest by photographer and demonstrator John Darroch
Today five pro Palestine protesters were arrested outside the New Zealand Tennis Open, heres my account of what happened.
The protest had been going for about ten minutes with protesters holding placards, chanting and using a megaphone when police approached a protester. Whilst I could not hear exactly what they told the protester the general gist seemed to be that the protester should stop using his megaphone. A few minutes later they approached a second protester who had been using a microphone and told her something similar.
A few minutes later I got on a megaphone and explained to the police that my understanding was that two recent court decisions protected our rights to protest loudly including using a megaphone in a public place. I talked about Rees versus Police where a friend (Rochelle) had been charged with disorderly conduct for using a megaphone in the CBD and had on appeal won a clear victory. I also made reference to the recent Brooker case which went all the way to the supreme court. I invited the sergeant in charge of the protest to come over and explain why using a megaphone was disorderly and otherwise based on my understanding of the law I would continue to use the megaphone. All this was clearly audible to the cops who started smiling and laughing as I continued my explanation. On two other occasions I attempted to talk to the senior officer asking him to explain why using a megaphone as part of a protest action was illegal.
About five minutes later groups of officers began walking up and almost at random picking off protesters. The arrests were brutal, no warning was given, no one was asked to stop making noise. Instead officers grabbed people and marched them off. John Minto was the first person to be arrested.
After taking photos of this I decided to begin using the one remaining megaphone. To emphasis my point I decided to climb a tree with my megaphone. Once up the tree I began chanting “freedom for Palestine” and “Blood, Blood, Blood on your hands” I did so to express my anger at the current atrocities occurring in Palestine. I was also calling for a boycott of high profile Israeli figures as a way to put pressure on Israel. An officer got a boost up and after struggling for a minute or two made it to the branch I was on. After being asked to come down I passed my megaphone down and jumped down. At no stage was I asked to stop making noise, I was not told to stop using my megaphone, I was only asked to come down “For your own safety”.
Once down I was arrested and I went limp, the officers dragged me off to a waiting paddy wagon where I began the several hour long arrest process.
To be clear what the police did today was completely illegal, we have every right to protest loudly including using megaphones. This may be annoying and it may be disruptive, that is the point of protest actions. What happened today was the police getting annoyed and then making arrests until they got what they wanted. The right to protest is being eroded steadily. It is standard practice for police to use the power of arrest to shut a demonstration down.
The arrested protesters are facing charges of disorderly behaviour, three people are also facing charges of obstruction, and one with assaulting a police officer. The women charged with assault was herself assaulted and was left bleeding as a result of the way she was treated.
To finish this off lets refer to the most relevant section of Rees vs Police which No Right Turn dug up
It is not correct to say that in exercising the right to protest, a citizen has the duty not to annoy. It is permissible, within limits, for a citizen to annoy others while protesting. It is not enough that the conduct is irritating or ill mannered or in bad taste. Protestors often set out to cause irritation, to attract attention to their message. That is not in itself illegitimate, or a breach of the criminal law. There is a line beyond which protestors cannot cross without offending the criminal law, and that line involves annoyance beyond that which is normal and acceptable to New Zealanders. Loud protests through a megaphone are not uncommon in New Zealand streets. It is a method of protest that is often used. It is not a breach of our criminal law in itself to use such a method of protest. It is not a breach of our criminal law to annoy others while doing so.
Uprooted Palestinian
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