Anna Samson, Sydney
There is little difference between "an irresponsible drunken man" wantonly vandalising private property and two individuals attempting to "make a serious political point" by marking a public building.
This is what Justice John Blackmore claimed on January 30 before sentencing protesters Dave Burgess and Will Saunders to nine months' imprisonment, to be served as weekend detention. He also ordered them to pay $151,000 in compensation to the Sydney Opera House Trust.
Burgess and Saunders were convicted of "malicious damage" for painting "No war" on one of the sails of the Sydney Opera House on March 18, the very day Prime Minister John Howard declared Australian forces would be invading Iraq.
Hundreds of people participated in solidarity pickets organised by the Stop the War Coalition outside the court hearings. The coalition has declared that the sentence is "outrageous", and clearly fails to take into account the social and political context in which the protesters acted.
Blackmore maintained throughout the trial that the prevailing political situation at the time of the protest was "irrelevant" to determining how Burgess and Saunders should be treated by the legal system. He also considered the activists' actions to be aligned with that of a "radical fringe" opposing the war.
Such sentiments echoed PM John Howard's dismissal of the one million people who took to the streets of Australia on February 15-16 against the war as a "mob".
Earlier, the judge ruled the men's self-defence claim inadmissible, leaving the jury little choice but to convict Burgess and Saunders on the charges before them. Such a defence was successfully used in a similar case in 1973, when an anti-apartheid activist cut down stadium goal posts to protest against the tour of the South African Springbok rugby team.
Section 418 of the New South Wales Crimes Act provides that an accused may successfully plead self-defence if she or he can establish that she or he believed her or his conduct was necessary to defend another person, prevent the deprivation of liberty, protect property from being unlawfully taken or damaged, or to prevent criminal trespass. This section does not appear limited to preventing actions taking place on Australian soil.
The invasion of Iraq, and its consequent destruction and slaughter, undoubtedly fits the description of preventable conduct under section 418. The false pretext of the war — the finding of weapons of mass destruction — has also raised questions about the legality of the invasion and Australia's part in it.
The severity of the sentence appears odd, given that the judge held both Burgess and Saunders to be of good character and acknowledged their willingness to pay for the cost of the Opera House clean up. The judge also found that the two men were unlikely to be repeat offenders.
Blackmore seemed determined for the sentence to act as a "general deterrent" to activists who may wish to mark public property in political protest.
However, rather than prevent future acts of civil disobedience, the jailing of political activists has simply highlighted the hypocrisy of a system that imposes hefty penalties for peaceful protest, while government leaders, directly responsible for the murder of Iraqis including children, are yet to be indicted for war crimes.
Burgess and Saunders will be appealing both their conviction and sentence. For its part, the Stop the War Coalition has vowed to continue the political struggle to free Will and Dave and hold government leaders to account for their immoral and unjust actions.
In the meantime, Saunders may be spending his weekends at Silverwater Prison in the company of businessman Rene Rivkin, also serving nine months of periodic detention — in his case, for insider trading.
[Anna Samson is co-convener of the Stop the War Coalition in Sydney. Visit <http://www.stopwarcoalition.org>.]
From Green Left Weekly, February 4, 2004.
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