{"id":1030849,"date":"2023-03-20T01:06:46","date_gmt":"2023-03-20T01:06:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/asiapacificreport.nz\/?p=86164"},"modified":"2023-03-20T01:06:46","modified_gmt":"2023-03-20T01:06:46","slug":"climate-activist-violet-cocos-quashed-jail-sentence-highlights-police-lies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2023\/03\/20\/climate-activist-violet-cocos-quashed-jail-sentence-highlights-police-lies\/","title":{"rendered":"Climate activist \u2018Violet\u2019 Coco\u2019s quashed jail sentence highlights police lies"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Australian climate emergency protester Deanna \u201cViolet\u201d Coco last week <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/australia-news\/2023\/mar\/15\/climate-activist-deanna-violet-cocos-15-month-jail-sentence-overturned-on-appeal\">won her appeal<\/a> ato the delight of supporters. A 15-month jail sentence imposed on her for blocking one lane on the Sydney Harbour Bridge with a truck was quashed. Instead, Coco, 32, was issued with a 12-month conditional release order last Wednesday after district court judge Mark Williams heard she had been initially imprisoned on false information provided by the NSW police. She told reporters she would pursue compensation against the police after spending 13 days in prison. Here investigative journalist <strong>Wendy Bacon<\/strong> reports for <a href=\"https:\/\/cityhubsydney.com.au\/2023\/03\/police-withdraw-false-story-that-protesters-blocked-ambulance\/\">City Hub<\/a> on the NSW police withdrawing the false ambulance accusation that led to Coco&#8217;s jailing.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>ANALYSIS:<\/strong><em> By Wendy Bacon in Sydney<\/em><\/p>\n<p>New South Wales police withdrew a false allegation that four climate change protesters who had stopped traffic on the Sydney Harbour Bridge last year blocked an ambulance.<\/p>\n<p>Police included this false allegation in a statement of the so-called &#8220;facts&#8221; that police prepared on the day of the arrests. The false allegation was designed to paint a hostile image of four peaceful protesters and to successfully argue for onerous bail conditions, including severe restrictions on their movements, and tough sentences.<\/p>\n<p>The documents drawn up on the day of the protest stated: \u201cThe actions today have not only caused serious disruption to peak-hour traffic, but this imposition to traffic prevented an ambulance responding to an emergency under lights and sirens as it was unable to navigate through the increased heavy traffic as previously mentioned. This imposition to a critical emergency service has the potential to result in fatality.\u201d<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wendybacon.com\/2023\/nsw-police-admit-to-false-allegation-against-harbour-bridge-protesters\"><strong>READ MORE:<\/strong> Wendy Bacon reports on a trail of NSW police allegations &#8216;bad habits&#8217; &#8211; police admit to false allegation against protesters<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/australia-news\/2023\/mar\/15\/climate-activist-deanna-violet-cocos-15-month-jail-sentence-overturned-on-appeal\">Climate activist Deanna \u2018Violet\u2019 Coco\u2019s 15-month jail sentence quashed on appeal<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/asiapacificreport.nz\/2022\/12\/07\/its-time-to-be-the-crowd-knitting-nannas-tell-protest-against-jailing-of-climate-activist\/\">\u2018It\u2019s time to be the crowd\u2019, Knitting Nannas tell protest against jailing of climate activist<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>An unprecedented tough sentence was given to Violet Coco who had already spent 84 days &#8220;imprisoned&#8221; at home between her arrest in April 2022 and her appearance before Magistrate Alison Hawkins in December.<\/p>\n<p>Hawkins referred to the blocking of the ambulance in her remarks when she sentenced Coco to 15 months in prison and refused bail. After spending 10 days in prison, Coco was released on bail by District Court judge Timothy Gartelmann.<\/p>\n<p>Her appeal against sentence was heard on March 15 when the matter of the false allegations was raised.<\/p>\n<p>The new information emerged during the sentencing hearing against two of Coco\u2019s co-defendants Alan Glover and Karen Fitz-Gibbon who appeared for sentencing earlier this month.<\/p>\n<p>They pleaded guilty to charges arising from blocking one lane of the Harbour Bridge for 30 minutes in April last year. Magistrate Daniel Reiss sentenced both to 18 months Community Correction Orders with a fine of $3000 each.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_86179\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-86179\" style=\"width: 680px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-86179 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/asiapacificreport.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Antijailing-protest-City-Hub-680wide.png\" alt=\"Sydney protesters demonstrating against the anti-protest laws and harsh sentences \" width=\"680\" height=\"505\" srcset=\"https:\/\/asiapacificreport.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Antijailing-protest-City-Hub-680wide.png 680w, https:\/\/asiapacificreport.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Antijailing-protest-City-Hub-680wide-300x223.png 300w, https:\/\/asiapacificreport.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Antijailing-protest-City-Hub-680wide-80x60.png 80w, https:\/\/asiapacificreport.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Antijailing-protest-City-Hub-680wide-265x198.png 265w, https:\/\/asiapacificreport.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Antijailing-protest-City-Hub-680wide-566x420.png 566w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-86179\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sydney protesters demonstrating against the anti-protest laws and harsh sentences imposed on climate emergency activists. Image: City Hub<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Compared to previous sentences for peaceful protesters, these are harsh sentences. Their lawyer told the court that they regretted causing inconvenience.<\/p>\n<p>Outside the court, Glover, a comedian and actor who has been a firefighter for 40 years, told the media, \u201cI\u2019m very unhappy and angry. I think the judgement is wrong and I\u2019m going to appeal.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Asked whether he thought the tactics were appropriate, he said, \u201cI\u2019m a firefighter and what do I have to do to make sure firefighters have the resources to do the job properly. I want the government to recognise that we are already in the midst of climate change problems\u2026We\u2019ve got people dying from smoke inhalation from bushfires that are bigger than anything we\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Asked by a journalist if he still agreed with his lawyer\u2019s statement in court that he recognised the action was &#8220;inappropriate&#8221;, he said, \u201cI do, I thought it was inappropriate at the time but we have to do something to get the government to act now now.. a few minutes delay is nothing compared to the massive disruption that will occur if we do not get action on climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Greens spokesperson and NSW Upper House MP Sue Higginson who has appeared for hundreds of environmental protesters wrote on Facebook: &#8220;I nearly fell off my chair when the Magistrate handed down his sentence &#8212; a conviction, an 18 month community corrections order and a $3000 fine. I have represented hundreds of environmental protesters and this sentence is just so wrong. He should not be punished this way. I hope he appeals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn the upside, the case today put to rest the dangerous false shrill claims that an ambulance was obstructed during the protest. It wasn\u2019t! When you have a state government and an opposition in lock step in an anti-protest draconian stance and a legal intolerance to dissent and civil disobedience we fail our democracy, our climate, our environment and our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Greens Senator David Shoebridge agreed and wrote on Facebook: \u201dThe police went into court and REPEATEDLY lied that this had blocked an ambulance &#8212; all to try to get a harsher penalty for a climate protector!<\/p>\n<p>Magistrate Daniel Reiss noted that Glover\u2019s two co-accused &#8220;Violet&#8221; Deanna Coco and Jay Larbalestier had both been sentenced on the \u201cfalse ambulance assertion\u201d and that \u201cno emergency vehicles were obstructed\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>This could open the way for Larbastier to appeal on his sentence. Police acknowledged that they had taken no steps to inform him that the evidence used against him was partly false.<\/p>\n<p>If it wasn\u2019t for the publicity, he would not know about the ambulance lie.<\/p>\n<p>The cases of the Harbour Bridge protesters were among the first to take place after the LNP government\u2019s draconian anti-protest laws were passed with NSW Labor\u2019s support in April last year.<\/p>\n<p><strong>CCL condemns disproportionate sentences of climate protesters<\/strong><br \/>\nThe NSW Council for Civil Liberties is one of scores of organisations calling for the repeal of the laws. Its president Josh Pallas described the case as \u201can outrageous\u201d example of \u201cpolice misstating the facts which have been consequential in the sentences of others.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The police have offered no justification for this misstatement of facts. They must be held accountable and at the very least, explain how they got this so wrong.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClimate protesters are being increasingly and disproportionately subjected to punitive legal action by Australian authorities and this has taken that legal action to a new extreme,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Pallas described this period as \u201csome of the darkest times our members have seen for protesters,\u201d since CCL started advocating for protest rights in 1963.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have fought the slow repression of police and the state in cracking down on protest every step of the way. But the fight is hard when the government is protecting mining and business interests and when the mainstream media side with government and large corporates with vested interests to stifle the right to protest,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese cases provide yet another example of why everyone should be concerned about increasing repression of public assemblies and protests in NSW and elsewhere around the country. The right to protest and public assembly is an essential democratic right.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Stifling protest stifles freedom of expression. Enough is enough, the government and the police must respect the right to protest and be accountable for their actions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Magistrate focused on ambulance in Coco case<\/strong><br \/>\nThe non existent ambulance featured in the first sentencing hearing against Coco.<\/p>\n<p>The police referred Magistrate Alison Hawkins to the &#8220;fact&#8221; that Coco had prevented an ambulance with lights and sirens indicating an emergency. Coco\u2019s barrister did not dispute that the ambulance \u201cmay have been\u201d on the bridge but warned the magistrate against drawing implications from that or overblowing its significance.<\/p>\n<p>Magistrate Hawkins disagreed asking why she would be going too far to accept that \u201cimpeding an ambulance under lights and sirens might be something that potentially has the potential to cause harm to some other person? Why is that a stretch too far?.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She accepted the existence of the ambulance and the sirens as relevant &#8220;facts&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>She then applied these facts in her sentencing saying, \u201cYou have halted an ambulance under lights and siren. What about the person in there? What about that person and their family? What are they to think of you and your cause?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Because Hawkins accepted the ambulance as fact, she felt free to accept that inside the ambulance was a very real person whose life was in danger. This was part of the basis for her referring to the protest as a \u201cchildish\u201d and \u201cdangerous\u201d stunt.<\/p>\n<p>She then justified her harsh and angry stance on the basis that this \u201cdangerous behaviour\u2026 deserves \u201ccondemnation from not only the courts but the community\u201d because Coco had not only illegally protested but she had done so in a manner to cause a \u201csignificant level of distress to the community\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Because of the seriousness of the situation, Hawkins said she had no other option than to impose a full-time jail sentence.<br \/>\n<strong><br \/>\nProtester uses body cam footage to prove innocence<\/strong><br \/>\nOne of the effects of the anti-protest laws is to make it less likely that protesters will plead not guilty. This is because the laws are framed so that, for instance, you are either on a road or off a road. You do not have to be given a direction to move.<\/p>\n<p>If an accused pleads not guilty and is then found guilty, there is a risk that a sentence could be even harsher.<\/p>\n<p>When people plead guilty, there is less likelihood that police version of the facts will be tested in cross-examination. This means that there is more latitude for police to create their own facts &#8212; in other words, fabricate evidence.<\/p>\n<p>In another case this week, climate activist Richard Boult was found not guilty of all charges brought by NSW Police for stepping onto a road during a climate protest in Sydney last June.<\/p>\n<p>Boult who is part of the Extinction Rebellion drumming group was charged under NSW road rules with obstructing traffic and causing a traffic hazard arising from his participation in Blockade Australia\u2019s call for stronger climate action.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenleft.org.au\/content\/climate-activist-cleared-traffic-charges\"><em>Green Left<\/em> reported<\/a> that after attending the protest, he attended a media conference. When he left the conference, police followed him to his car and laid charges alleging he left the footpath and stepped onto the road.<\/p>\n<p>Boult pleaded not guilty, saying his movement from the footpath was at a point in the road designated as a closing point. Significantly, he used body camera evidence that validated his claims. So it was not just his word against the police version of events.<\/p>\n<p>He also rejected a plea deal, which would have dropped one charge but retained another. The court upheld Boult\u2019s plea of not guilty and dropped the charges.<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wendybacon.com\/about\/\">Wendy Bacon<\/a> was previously the professor of journalism at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and is supporting the Greens in the NSW election. One of the reasons, she supports the Greens is because they are the only party committed to repealing the protest laws. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wendybacon.com\/\">Wendy Bacon&#8217;s investigative journalism blog<\/a>.<br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Australian climate emergency protester Deanna \u201cViolet\u201d Coco last week won her appeal ato the delight of supporters. A 15-month jail sentence imposed on her for blocking one lane on the Sydney Harbour Bridge with a truck was quashed. Instead, Coco, 32, was issued with a 12-month conditional release order last Wednesday after district court judge<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8937,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441,27927,175,58834,605,108,606,5605,18313,9242,58837,55098,432,40901,433,393,5,6,34721,118,47111,33,12,13,58840,14,2295,58844,1,31073],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1030849"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8937"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1030849"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1030849\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1031952,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1030849\/revisions\/1031952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1030849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1030849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1030849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}