Police payout for protesters
Age Newspaper (Melbourne)
November 10, 2000
By Darrin Farrant - Law Reporter
Victoria Police is refusing to concede it is liable for injuries suffered by demonstrators after police used pressure-point tactics against them - despite agreeing to pay the protesters $50,000.
The settlement is the latest in a string of payouts by police over their use of force during raids against protesters at demonstrations.
Seven anti-logging protesters will receive payouts of between $3500 and $7500 each in an out-of-court settlement, which brings to an end a six-year legal battle.
No charges were laid and only one police officer was disciplined after officers used pressure-point tactics to remove about 15 people blocking the entrance to an underground carpark in February 1994.
The protesters, opposed to logging of old-growth forests in east Gippsland, had been attempting to prevent senior officials of the then Department of Conservation and Environment from parking at their East Melbourne headquarters.
One of the protesters who received a payout, Trevor Coon, said about 15 police officers suddenly attacked the protesters from behind.
Mr Coon said his eye was gouged and his ear and fingers twisted as the officers used their hands to find pressure points around his neck and face. “The only way I can describe their behaviour is sadistic,” he said.The tactics were condemned as highly dangerous by the Australian Medical Association and have since been scrapped by Victoria Police after an internal review.
A spokesperson for Victoria Police said the forward commander who was in charge at the scene faced disciplinary charges that were later upheld.
He said the commander, who has since left the force for undisclosed reasons, was counselled and the charges included in his record. No other officers were disciplined.
In a statement issued yesterday, police confirmed a settlement was being finalised but stressed that it “expresses no liability”.
Last month police agreed to pay about $300,000 to protesters who faced a baton charge by police outside the Richmond Secondary College in 1993. The force also agreed to pay millions of dollars in legal costs and compensation payouts to Tasty nightclub patrons who were stripsearched during a raid on the club in 1994.
Lawyers are expected to take legal actionj soon over police clashes with demonstrators outside the World Economic Forum in September.