The first moment Father Peter Murnane knew he was wanted by police was when two officers turned up on his doorstep.
Key points:
- Members of a group called Blockade Australia are facing possible jail time under tough new anti-protest laws
- 82-year-old Catholic priest Peter Murnane has been charged over the June protests, but he says it is a case of mistaken identity
- NSW Police have dropped charges against a legal observer who was arrested in June
“They presented me with an eight-page charge sheet accusing me of being at a protest in Sydney in June this year,” he told ABC’s 7.30.
That protest was one of two unauthorised demonstrations in late June when scores of climate demonstrators converged in Sydney’s CBD, causing morning peak hour chaos.
“I was accused of blocking access to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, blocking George Street and other streets, and walking about throughout a long protest playing a drum.”
It came as a huge surprise to the 82-year-old Catholic priest who lives in Melbourne, and told 7.30 he was not in Sydney at the time.
And he doesn’t own or play a drum.
“They said that I was seen on CCTV, public media, Facebook live streaming,” Father Murnane said.
“That was quite amazing to me. I was in Melbourne all during those days and weeks so it was quite a puzzle to me.”
Father Murnane said he has not been involved in any Blockade Australia protests but is friends with a protester who has been charged under tough new anti-protest laws.
Offenders face fines of up to $22,000 and up to two years in jail if they are found guilty of causing serious disruption to roads, rail, and ports.
Lawyer Mark Davis is acting for a group of Blockade Australia protesters and supporters.
Mr Davis told 7.30 he has asked NSW Police to drop the charges against Peter Murnane, but they have not responded.
“It’s comical, what can I say?” Mr Davis said.
“It’s a two-year jail offence they’ve landed on this poor bloke. It’s absurd.”
The head of the Dominican church community in Camberwell, Father Mark O’Brien, has vouched for Father Murnane in a statement to 7.30.
“I can confirm that this allegation is quite mistaken or false because Fr Peter Murnane was at St Dominic’s on 27th June and so could not have been in Sydney on the same day,” he said in a statement.
New South Wales Police would not comment on Father Murnane’s case, saying the matter is before the court.
But Father Murnane says NSW Police “deserve to be called to account for this pretty horrendous mistake”.
NSW Metropolitan Roads Minister Natalie Ward declined to comment on Father Murnane’s case but expressed support for police.
“I’ll leave the police to do their job,” Ms Ward told 7.30.
“I have great faith in the police force and I know that they try and do everything they can.”
Police drop case against legal observer at Blockade Australia protest
NSW Police have dropped charges against another person who attended the protests in June, 7.30 can reveal.
Chloe Sinclair was acting as a volunteer legal observer with Legal Observers New South Wales and was monitoring police actions.
Under human rights law, legal observers are supposed to be protected, but police arrested Ms Sinclair, accusing her of blocking traffic under the anti-protest laws.
“I was pretty incredulous,” she told 7.30.
“I remember throwing my hands up and saying, ‘No, no I’m a legal observer’, and I repeated it many times.”
Amnesty International challenged the charges, and NSW Police has agreed to withdraw them on public interest grounds.
Ms Sinclair said it was a huge relief not to face up to two years in jail.
“The last few months have turned my life upside down,” she said.
NSW Police would not comment on Ms Sinclair’s case, while Amnesty International welcomed the result.
“What we want to see is police respect the rights of people to observe protests as legal observers and for them to no longer target legal observers so that they’re able to do this important work safely, and without fear of being charged with serious offences,” Nikita White from Amnesty International said.
Government defends jail penalty for disruptive climate protesters
Civil rights groups say the NSW Government’s anti-protest laws are too broad and curtail the right to protest, especially the central offence of blocking roads.
The laws were passed in April after a series of Blockade Australia demonstrations caused disruption around New South Wales, including at Port Botany.
Blockade Australia is a climate movement that believes corporate interests are driving climate change and that “a culture of effective resistance” will address the problem.
A police raid on a bush camp site at Colo, north west of Sydney, led to a group of people being charged with assault and affray amid allegations they attacked police.
During the June protests, a Blockade Australia protester locked herself to the steering wheel of a car and blocked traffic into the Sydney Harbour Tunnel.
Minister Natalie Ward said the government introduced the laws to protect people’s safety.
“There’s a right to protest in Australia,” Ms Ward told 7.30.
“We have a free country, which has freedom of speech, which I absolutely support, but there’s a way to go about that and this way was an unacceptable risk to motorists in the morning, to first responders on our roads, and to motorists, and to protesters themselves.”
“Freedom of speech is an important component that I support, but you do that in way that balances the right of people to go about their daily lives.”
Watch this story on 7.30 tonight on ABC TV and ABC iview.
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