Occupy Melbourne legal support team statement 21st October 2011

Statement 6PM 21/10/11... The legal support team at the Occupy Melbourne events condemn the excessive use of force by the Victorian Police today against peaceful protesters.

“Our observers have witnessed and been told of numerous incidents of excessive force and violence against the peaceful protesters,” said Erin Buckley, coordinator of the legal observer team. “We are very concerned at the level of violence, and concerned particularly about the welfare of young people who have experienced significant police brutality today.”

Arrests have been documented and legal support is being coordinated for arrestees at the demonstrations as much as is possible.

The purpose of the legal support team has been to inform people of their rights and the law, and to contribute as much as possible to the safety and well being of protesters.

The legal team have recorded around 45 arrests so far, though the numbers are expected to be closer to over a hundred.

Numerous incidents of police violence and brutality have also been recorded.

If you witnessed or have been a victim of police violence then Occupy Melbourne Legal can be contacted on 0434 126 515 or by email at: occupymelbournelegal@gmail.com

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Comments

Will assist gippslanders contact Paul Holmes

barristers clerk

Occupy Melbourne was asked to leave and did not. Police responded correctly and justly. All you did by forcing that situation was hurt your cause.

You're only believing what you've seen/heard through the media. I have friends that were involved with this and one has been injured by a police horse.

Police have been given training on how to deal with these situations in order to remove people with minimal force. Minimal force does not entail repeatedly attacking (punching, kicking, etc) people while on the ground. Some people tried to leave the situation but were still pulled back and treated violently by police. Police let the power get to their heads and just jumped into the situation at full speed. Police brutality is to blame for the end result. Some police also did not have identification as they must have by law.

There are always a small minority of citizens that will be violent but violence is not acceptable in any circumstance. Police have been given power by the citizens to uphold law and order and when police abuse their own powers by using violence they're breaking their own code and setting a bad example for the community. In my opinion this is worse than a civilian resorting to violence as when somebody who holds a position of power, such as the police force, it undermines the whole system we have in place. Saying that, how can we trust police in the future if this is how they are going to treat these types of situations?

here are a few protest law cases on how to sue the cops . And you do have the right to self defence, to resist , the courts said so . www.cynicismcentral.org