Police maintain riot watch in Sydney, Melbourne

23 Sep 2012, 11:25 am   -   Source: AAP
Share This
0 
+ Comment
0
Police will be out in force in central Sydney this weekend as part of a high-visibility strategy to avoid a repeat of violent protest scenes. (AAP)

Police will be out in force in central Sydney this weekend as part of a high-visibility strategy to avoid a repeat of violent protest scenes. (AAP)

Police in Sydney and Melbourne remain on alert for any trouble after last weekend's violent Sydney protest against an anti-Islamic film that has sparked riots around the world.

RELATED

Despite police concerns of a repeat of last week's violent protests over an anti-Islam YouTube video, Sydney's CBD has stayed trouble free.

Police continue to monitor social networking sites despite no sign of a repeat of last week's protests in Sydney's CBD over a video mocking Islam.

As part of Operation Waterman, police had assigned an extra 300 officers as a precaution against further violence.

Innocence of Muslims, an anti-Islam film posted on YouTube, sparked riots around the globe last weekend.

Angry members of Sydney's Muslim community marched through the city, clashing with police and a number of arrests followed. Sydney's Islamic community leaders later condemned the violence.

A police spokesman told AAP Saturday's operation went smoothly and without further trouble.

However, he said officers would continue to monitor social media outlets after two men were arrested for attempting to incite more protest activity this weekend.

Victorian police said there will be more officers around in Melbourne's CBD on Sunday but they are not expecting angry protests over an anti-Islamic film.

"We have planned response," a spokeswoman said, adding that there would be more officers on the ground.

A key organiser has called off an Islamic rally planned in response to last weekend's violent protest in Sydney, and there are no indications a retaliatory protest by non-Muslims will go ahead either.

Victoria Police Superintendent Peter O'Neill said people could still be planning to protest but he does not expect it to be violent.

Victorian Muslim leaders have continued to discourage protests and have overwhelmingly condemned the violence in Sydney, which began as a demontration against the film Innocence of Muslims, made by a US-based filmmaker.

The lessening of police concerns in Melbourne comes despite the US embassy in Australia warning all US citizens that they could become targets.

Staff at American consulate offices have also been warned to "avoid attracting attention to themselves as US citizens".

Detectives have also laid more charges in relation to last Saturday's demonstration.

A 19-year-old Bankstown man was charged on Friday with assaulting police, and granted conditional bail to appear in Bankstown Local Court on October 17.

A 16-year-old Bankstown youth was also charged on Friday with assaulting police causing grievous bodily harm, assault, affray and possessing a prohibited drug.

He was granted conditional bail to appear in Parramatta Childrens Court on October 11.

Police have now arrested a total of 11 people over the protest, eight men and three youths, and laid 25 charges.

Anti-islam Film

  • Follow us: 
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Youtube

Join the Discussion

Name
City / Suburb E.g. Artarmon, Sydney
Title
Comment
You have characters remaining.
Validation
What's this?
This is a captcha-picture. It is used to prevent mass-access by robots.
All submitted comments become the property of SBS. They are moderated, so we reserve the right to edit comments and remove HTML tags. Not all submitted comments will be published. Publication does not mean we endorse the opinions expressed. Please read our terms and conditions for more information.