Can this shocking story possibly be true? I cross post here in the hope that journalists with real resources will follow this up.
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4 Comments
This is true.
On friday 19/12/08 at 10pm in Potts Point – Police forcefully deleted my video of a police search from my blackberry phone whilst ignoring my repeated testimony that “i do not consent to a search of my phone”. They threatening me with arrest for both disobeying a police order and the terrorism act as grounds for their coercion.
nickhac gmail for more information, although most information is already covered in the comments here:
http://techwiredau.com/2008/12/who-watches-the-watchers-australian-threatened-with-arrest-under-australian-anti-terrorism-act-for-being-a-citizen-journalist/
Thanks for your help!!!
I know the gentleman in question personally. His immediate tweet on twitter was: “I got searched and my phone confiscated for filming a police search in kings cross, I was threatened with arrest and detainment. Police state.” He doesn’t strike me as the sort of person who’d make it up.
Now you know why I do pro bono legal work and community media! Been there done that folks!
http://www.sydneyalternativemedia.com/blog/index.blog/1841828/nsw-police-force-ramp-up-secrecy-says-news-corp-civil-liberty-folks/
The case was Oliver Hopes, as reported by Chris Merritt at The Oz formerly AFR. Similarly pics of same kind of gambit at Central Station when it happened to moi. And also see woven in there journalist Matt Khoury also arrested in similar circs.
This is prime Right to Know territory. Sadly the police too often have a knee jerk censorship or professional embarrassment nerve. OR they have been instructed from higher up to curtail citizen recording to avoid suits or evidence. BUT notice my angle – a good one think – of hypocrisy with Assistant Commissioner literally calling for everyone to be cyber sheriffs. Only not when police are the content? Mmmm.
About time the good folks in the police ’service’ realised it’s an freedom of information world out there now and time to change with the times and get used to it. The irony in the Oliver Hopes case was that he had little or no sympathy for the people the police where in the fracas with. He just wanted to be a witness, a citizen journalist in fact.
The Murdochland news site couriermail.com.au (but not the print edition of the Courier Mail) has just run this story under the headline Mobile phone seizure an ‘abuse of police powers’.
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