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Allegations
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Support for protester charged with obstructing police Auckland: Five more
people were arrested yesterday in a running battle over “heavyhanded” police
action. The five protesters -
four women and a man - turned up at the Auckland District Court to support a
fellow activist who was one of four arrested at the weekend at an anti-war
demonstration in Queen St, Auckland. Before the court
hearing, about 20 people marched from Aotea Square with a mock coffin to
symbolise the “death of democracy” from alleged police brutality, which they
claim was meted out at the weekend. They were met by a
similar number of police, and the five were arrested trying to enter a
courtroom in support of Simon Aart Oosterman, who claims to have been
assaulted on Saturday by an officer while being held in a patrol car. Oosterman, dressed in a
black cape similar to what he says was worn by a torture victim at the United
States-run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, pleaded not guilty to a charge of
obstructing police and was remanded until next month. The 24-year-old union
worker was also remanded until November for a defended hearing of a charge of
indecent exposure after a naked cycle ride through central Auckland last
month against oil dependency, which he blames for the war in Iraq. Inspector Jim Wilson,
Auckland police operations manager, said the protesters were arrested after
being asked by court staff to leave for trying to carry small banners into
the courtroom. Oosterman said
afterwards they left their banners outside the courthouse, although he
acknowledged one woman tried to enter the room holding a Sunday newspaper
photograph and report showing a police sergeant holding a 16-year-old
protester by the throat. He said she put it away
when told by court staff that “political propaganda” was not allowed in the
room. The five were released
on bail to appear in court on trespass charges tomorrow. When Oosterman and
other activists left court, they headed for the central Auckland police
station to protest about the five who were being held there. |
