ARRESTED FOR CALLING PRO-HAMAS EVIL

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"You're under arrest"

 

Yes, this is New Zealand. You know, the "free land" that our national anthem asks God to defend. But in this free land, with a new government committed to free speech, a woman was arrested by police on Saturday afternoon in Queen Street for holding an A4 sheet of paper.

On the sheet of paper she'd written in marker pen, SELECTIVE CONDEMNATION OF GENOCIDE IS EVIL. Whoah! That's an offence? Yes apparently , if there's a protest going by pro-Hamas leftards who selectively condemn Israel for genocide and you call that evil.  

One can only hope and pray the fuzz don't get away with this. And as the woman they arrested is criminal defence lawyer Lucy Rogers AND she's got the Free Speech Union minding her back, they're not likely to.

“They [police] just wanted to get me out of sight and shut me up for the duration of the protest,” Rogers claimed, calling the arrest a “misuse of power”.

In a video of the arrest supplied to the Herald, a police officer can be heard telling Rogers the pro-Palestine protesters were “going to get upset [with the sign] and then it’s going to start a riot”.

Oh well, there you are then. We can't have pro-Hamas protestors getting upset, can we?  

Acting Superintendent Jacqui Whittaker, the relieving Auckland City District Commander, told the Herald officers “were required to engage with a female whose behaviour gave rise for concern”.

NZ Herald

But wait on. Wot about the riot at the Posie Parker event? Why are the police nervous about a sole anti-Hamas protestor and just fine with the holus-bolus riot against the anti-trans, pro-women's rights speaker Posie Parker? 

Not only was a lone woman arrested, but also a guy whose offence consisted in simply being there on Saturday, who was not only arrested but also charged and will appear in court on Thursday.  

One can only hope and pray that the fuzz don't get away with this. And as the woman they arrested is criminal defence lawyer Lucy Rogers AND she's got the Free Speech Union minding her back, they're not likely to. 

Rogers writes:

 

Yesterday at about 5pm I was arrested on Queen Street for peacefully protesting a pro-Palestine rally.

I had popped out to grab coffee after being in a work meeting and saw the protest  on Queen Street. I walked into a shop, purchased an A2 piece of paper and wrote “SELECTIVE CONDEMNATION OF GENOCIDE IS EVIL” on it with a marker pen. I then stood on the pavement on Queen Street as the protesters walked past and held the sign above my head. I was silent and peaceful, and several metres away from them.

Immediately I was accosted by a group of nearby police officers who grabbed my sign off me and tore it up. They physically manhandled me and attempted to push me away from where I was standing. I refused to move and demanded my sign back. At this point I started recording them on my phone.

They refused to give my sign back and threatened to arrest me for breach of the peace and failing to comply with the lawful order of a police officer if I didn't move on.

As a criminal defence lawyer I was unfazed by this. I knew I wasn't breaking any law. The cops cannot tell you to do just anything: they could not for example order me to perform a handstand. I continued to refuse, asked them where in the law it said that they had the right to dictate where I stood in a public place when there was no obstruction to foot traffic, and finally attempted to walk around them to silently observe the protest without my sign. 

I was not carrying an Israeli flag or any other indication of being pro-Israel. There was no indication at this point what my views were. I was just another person on the street.

It was then that the cops grabbed me from behind, handcuffed me and arrested me. All of this is on video. They then locked me in a police van. Now, the next day, I still have a sore shoulder from my arms being wrenched behind my back without warning. I experienced sleeplessness last night.

What disturbed me was, the cops were completely unfazed at my recording their police ID numbers or arresting me, even when they knew I could identify them. They let me go as soon as I undertook not to return to the protest. So they didn't care whether they had any chance of successfully prosecuting me. They even offered to give me information on how to lay a complaint.

What this suggests in my view is that they have misused laws against breach of the peace, resisting police and perhaps other such laws again and again and again.

Section 39 of the Summary Offences Act 1981 reads as follows:

Any constable, and all persons whom he calls to his assistance, may arrest and take into custody without a warrant any person whom he has good cause to suspect of having committed an offence against any of the provisions of this Act except sections 17 to 20, 25, and 32 to 38.

I suspect that the police, who in ordinary circumstances are the ones who decide whether to prosecute someone (I have no reason to believe there is a different body which takes criminal complaints against police officers), have taken a very liberal approach to what constitutes “good cause to suspect” a crime, and that has been used as a way for police to avoid consequences for the misuse of power without the matter ever reaching the courts. The cops (I suspect) protect their own. They just wanted to shut me up for the duration of the protest, release me with or without charge and then get away with it.

I suspect too that these powers have been misused in cases more marginal than mine. Because I was in a very tense situation I did raise my voice, but I did not assault the cops, swear at them, drag my feet on the ground when they grabbed me or jerk my body around. I commented to the cops that I was a law-abiding person and one of them said he could tell. I'm sure the cops have arrested plenty of people who were less polite, and hence where there was less sympathy for them. However, being unfriendly to cops is not a crime.

The whole thing has been an eye-opener for me. If there isn't already I think there needs to be a body independent of the police set up to review complaints against police and determine whether to prosecute them.

Something calling itself the Independent Police Conduct Authority claims to be that body. It claims to be completely independent. https://www.ipca.govt.nz/  

(Their actions constitute assault, false arrest, theft, wilful damage to personal property, kidnapping and a host of other crimes.)

It's not clear whether Rogers is referring to the officers who arrested her, or police generally. 

I would be interested to know how many criminal complaints against these police officers have been made and never upheld.

I am also concerned that being threatened by police with arrest for things like failing to comply with the lawful order of a police officer would be intimidating to people less familiar with the law about what the police can and cannot tell you to do. I suspect the police deliberately exploit people's ignorance of the law. 

I add that I do not consider myself to be a pro-Israel protester. I was very deliberately not carrying an Israeli flag even though flags were available from the same shop where I bought my sheet of paper. Although until recently I was a lifelong supporter of Israel, the complete blockade of food and water to all civilians in Gaza absolutely appalled me.

Palestinian children take part in a human chain protest against the blockade

 The blockade was lifted only following American pressure and even then it was lifted only partially. Collective punishment is a war crime and I am not unsympathetic to sending home the Israeli ambassador.

I am not a pro-Israel protester. I am an anti-hypocrisy, anti-bias and anti-racism protester. I cannot understand how anyone in good conscience could exclusively protest Israel when Israel is responding to genocide, hostage taking and mass rape so brutal it broke women's pelvic bones.

By all means protest Israel's actions. My question is why they aren't also protesting Hamas? For many years now Hamas have fired missiles at civilian targets. Israel have responded with missile strikes on military targets while going to huge lengths to avoid civilian casualties, and everyone has sided with the Palestinians. For those with eyes to see the bias was already apparent, but these appalling post-October 7 pro-Palestine protests have exposed once and for all what truly motivates these people: anti-Semitism. 

Selective condemnation of genocide is not just evil but hypocritical, biased and racist.

Not always racist, surely? 

It's appalling that NZ police arrested someone for peacefully holding up a sign on the basis that it might upset the protesters. This shows our right to freedom of expression remains under threat by the establishment. It is also difficult not to conclude that if roles of counter-protester and protest cause had been reversed, the Police would have never ever acted the way they did.

The encounter was mainly captured on video and is embedded below.

https://youtu.be/mKQptrjMcdU

Over to Jonathan Ayling of the Free Speech Union:  

 Our team is working hard on this case. Here’s what we’re doing today:

1. Lodging a complaint with the Independent Police Conduct Authority;

2. Challenging the Auckland District Commander for an explanation;

3. Contacting the Police Commissioner re yet another example of police failing to respect basic civil liberties; 

4. Meeting with lawyers to assess whether criminal or civil proceedings are the best path to ensure justice. 

It is exactly for moments like this that the Free Speech Union exists. We cannot let disregard for speech rights become the norm. 

When Lucy came to us, she knew that we would have her back. And she was right.

I writing to ask if you would please have ours.

Cases like this are important, but time-consuming, and expensive. Would you contribute to our fight today?

Lucy responded exactly in the right way when she heard speech she disagreed with - she used counter-speech. And for that, she was arrested. Is this New Zealand now?

I hope you’ll help us make sure the message is clear - there will be accountability for police who fail to respect these basic rights. 

Samira Zaiton, co-convenor of the "Justice for Palestine" movement, at an earlier pro-Palestine protest.

We've had another protestor from Saturday contact us to say that he was also arrested. He wasn’t just detained - he has been charged. He will be in court on Thursday. 

The Free Speech Union will be there to provide pro bono. From the information we have received, we see no reason to think his actions were beyond what is protected by all New Zealanders’ right to free speech.  

There appears to be a pattern emerging of police disregard for the right for all Kiwis to protest.

From what we can see, the protestor, Daniel, went to central Auckland prior to the protest on Saturday, and asked police if he was permitted to hold an Israeli flag there. He was advised against it but informed that it was allowed.  

When he later brought his flag along he was told to leave, and warned that if he returned with the flag he would be arrested. He returned without the flag and was arrested and charged with obstruction. 

New Zealander's basic rights are to be protected by police, not defied. There must be accountability for police who fail to respect these fundamental freedoms.

Frivolous charges such as 'disruption of the peace' and 'obstruction' have become commonplace in other countries such as the United Kingdom as ways to constrain and suppress legitimate speech rights. We must not allow that to become the case here. 

 If you’re interested in the media coverage, I’ve listed some here.

- NZ Herald article;

- Stuff article;

- Newstalk ZB article;

- Kiwiblog article (which first broke the story)

I’m putting my money where my mouth is and offering to represent Daniel pro bono. May I ask you stand with us and chip into supporting the costs to our team for these fights? 

Thank you for standing with us, 

Jonathan Ayling