The G20 committal hearing

indonesia / philippines / australia | repression / prisoners | press release Tuesday March 04, 2008 19:05 by OGASN orgasn at lists dot riseup dot net

Statement of OGASN

Today is the first day of a 4 week committal hearing for 23 people facing charges relating to the G20 protests that took place in November, 2006.

Today is the first day of a 4 week committal hearing for 23 people facing charges relating to the G20 protests that took place in Melbourne in November 2006. While people attended the G20 protests for numerous reasons, there is only one reason that the State is pursuing these activists through the courts. The reason is to silence those who are understandably angry about the state of world affairs, and to stop them from taking direct action to change society.

So called, ‘anti-terror’ legislation is attempting to criminalise our ability to organise in a rapidly changing society. Meanwhile sedition laws have been reintroduced to silence those people who are demanding a fairer world. Under the pretext of confronting a small and allegedly dangerous minority, these measures are increasingly being used against anyone with dissenting opinions about the way society is organised.

It is within this context that we should see the G20 trial. This trial is a further attempt to stop people from trying to change the system. We know that this trial is not about so called, “violence” because if the government was serious about stopping violence they would stop using it as a political instrument. They would stop threatening mass arrest for attending political rallies; they would disband the military and police, they would withdraw troops from Iraq.

We know that today is not about justice because we live in a country where justice means in this case a vicious trial by media and a means for the Police Association to continue their war against police cheif Christine Nixon.

If the State believes that by putting political activists on trial that it will stop the fight for a better world, then they will be disappointed. We encourage all those who value their ability to resist government and corporate greed, and their right to say so without ending up in jail.

Thus we have come here today to defend the G20 arrestees, both politically and practically through groups such as the Ongoing G20 Arrestee Solidarity Network (OGASN), in order to secure a better outcome for these people on trial. Regardless of the accusations made by the police, we are here today to show solidarity with those on trial for believing in a better world. We support the arrestees, and will continue the fight, whatever the outcome.

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”Today our call is for peace, but we know that if we want peace, we should declare war on capitalism and on state power. But we will categorically reject participation in any war that is not against our true enemies. No war between nations, No peace between classes! - CUAC Chile

* Ongoing G20 Arrestee Solidarity Network is a broad coalition of left and libertarian activists i solidarity and full support of G20 arrested.