Police accused of 'ramrodding' Indian protesters

1 Jun 2009, 5:24 pm   -   Source: AAP
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An Indian protester at Monday's overnight blockade of Melbourne's city streets has accused the police of "ramrodding" protesters to break up their sit-in.

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An Indian protester at Monday's overnight blockade of Melbourne's city streets has accused the police of "ramrodding" protesters to break up their sit-in.

Yogesh Malhotra, a banker, says about 200 police surrounded protesters and then moved in, six officers at a time on individual protesters, punching them while dragging them off the tram tracks outside Flinders Street Station about 5.10am (AEST).

"There was definitely an amount of excessive force by Victoria Police," Mr Malhotra told ABC Radio.

"(There were) six (police) to one guy who was sitting down peacefully, who was punched and dragged."

Mr Malhotra said one officer had used an amplifier to ask protesters to move to Federation Square at 5.05am, but protesters had not been able to hear him clearly.

"While he was making his announcement we were already surrounded by 200 policeman and after a while... six of the guys (police), they came and they ramrodded one of the guys, they dragged him."

He said police were "punching" and "using pressure point tactics" while dragging protesters away.

The protest rally was organised by the Federation of Indian Students of Australia (FISA) after a series of violent attacks on students which they claim are racially motivated.

The protester's concerns conflicted with police accounts of the operation.

Chief Commissioner Simon Overland said on Monday an appropriate amount of force was used by Victoria Police members to the remove the protesters. Mr Overland told reporters he saw "nothing inappropriate" in the approach of police who broke up the protest about 5.15am (AEST) on Monday at one of Melbourne's busiest intersections, the corner of Swanston and Flinders streets.

"There was some force used after the students were given the opportunity for the last time to leave the intersection and they refused to do so," Mr Overland said. "Police moved in to remove them.

"There was resistance. There was linking of arms.

"There was hanging on to one another, and there was some force used in order to free the particular individuals who'd been targeted by the police and removed."

Mr Overland, who watched the police operation on camera, urged students unhappy about their treatment by police to come forward.

 Mr Overland said one officer's hand was bitten during the protest. "One of my officers was bitten on the hand and suffered an injury as a result of that," he said.

"There was some violence, it could have been a lot worse, but overall I think we got out of it quite well."

One protester was arrested for assault and another charged on summons for throwing objects through windows at Flinders Street station on Sunday, he said.

But a group of "rabble-rousers" separate from the Indian students may have hijacked the protest, Mr Overland said.

"I think their demonstration was hijacked - it initially started as a peaceful demonstration.

"The organisers of that demonstration then left. There were other people who became involved, most of them weren't Indian.

They were there for their own reasons, and I think the whole thing just got hijacked and got out of control."

The police chief said some demonstrators were clearly affected by alcohol, which prompted police to close the nearby Young and Jacksons hotel bottle shop, he said.

"They were going in there and accessing alcohol, and we knew that wasn't going to resolve the issue," he said.

"There were some people in there who weren't Indian who were rabble-rousers who had their own agenda and didn't seem to have much very much to do with the issues that are confronting the Indian students."

A collection of weapons, including knives, was found once the demonstrators left.

"They I think were obviously responsible for some of the tactics that were then used by the Indian students when we moved in to disperse the crowd," Mr Overland said.

"My understanding is they had taken some steps to arm themselves with projectiles in the event that we moved in." Meanwhile, Swinburne University Student Union president Damian Ridgwell condemned police, claiming they mounted a "violent attack" on "peaceful protesters".

Mr Ridgwell said in a statement on Monday that one protester had been admitted to hospital after having "their thumb broken during the police attack".

"I witnessed police officers stomp on a student's chest. Other police officers repeatedly punched students in the face," Mr Ridgwell said.

"A sitting protester was knocked unconscious by repeated punches to the head by a policeman.

"At least one baton was drawn and used to smash a protester's legs, while the front row of students was threatened with capsicum spray."

Mr Overland said although Indian students had been caught up in the "broader issue" of escalating street violence, assaults against Indian students had actually decreased in Melbourne's western suburbs.

But he said some attacks on Indian students had a racial element. "I think that some of the attacks are racially motivated.

"I think some of the attacks are opportunistic in that they just happen to be Indian students in the wrong place at the wrong time."

 

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