Paul Benedek, Brisbane
"Mulrunji was arrested on November 19, 2004, [for drunkenness] and 75 minutes later he was dead in his cell", Murri leader Sam Watson told a meeting here on March 1. "This fit man had four broken ribs and his liver was split in two, and the cops say 'he fell down the steps'."
Watson, a member of the Socialist Alliance, was commenting on the coronial inquiry into the death of 36-year-old Mulrunji on Palm Island. The death in police custody outraged the island's Aboriginal community, resulting in the destruction of the police station.
In evidence that was previously suppressed, but has now been allowed after a Supreme Court challenge, Palm Island residents are alleging detailing a history of violence by Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley, the officer who arrested Mulrunji and claims he "fell" to his death.
The inquest was adjourned on March 3, 2005, after state coroner Michael Barnes stood down following allegations of bias.
Evidence to the inquest, which reopened on February 27, came from Palm Island resident Noel Cannon, who told the inquest that he urinated in his pants after having his throat squeezed by Hurley while he was in custody.
Another Palm Island resident, Barbara Pilot, alleged that Hurley had deliberately run over her foot with a police van, inflicting injuries so severe that a bone was sticking through the skin, and then told her to "get up and walk". While Hurley claimed that he inspected the woman for injuries, Constable Kylie Fuller, who was with Hurley at the time, did not mention in her statement that Hurley had left their vehicle.
Watson criticised the police force and the police union for trying to cover their tracks and even reward the culprits. "This cop, responsible for killing Mulrunji, was given a cushy transfer to the Gold Coast and a temporary promotion", said an outraged Watson, who has strong family ties to the Palm Island community. "Disgustingly, the police union are trying to paint the police as the victims, when it is clearly the other way around."
"The police have stage-managed this inquest, with the media's support", Watson continued. "At the time of the death and the community uprising, radio stations were running fundraisers for police who lost furniture, but not one cent was raised for a dead Aboriginal man's family."
Watson said it was "blatant intimidation" for the police to fly in 45 more personnel and moor a 50-foot police boat to the island's wharf on the first day of the inquest.
Behind the injustice of another death in custody lies an Aboriginal island population facing atrocious social injustices. "In the rest of the state, there are 3.5 people to each house: on Palm there are 17", explained Watson. "There is nowhere for privacy, for kids to do their homework. In Queensland, [Premier Peter] Beattie boasts of a 5% unemployment rate, but on Palm it is 95%", Watson said.
Watson called for "white coppers" to get off the island immediately and for the community to organise its own policing. "The Palm Island community desperately needs decent housing, health, water and other basic services", Watson added. He said that if the inquest did not find Hurley criminally responsible there will be mass riots on Palm Island and beyond.
From Green Left Weekly, March 8, 2006.
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