Please gather with us at Parliament House lawns at 9am on Thursday 17 June to protest the sentencing hearing for Witness K. This may be the last chance we have to express support for this courageous man. The hearing goes over 2 days – at this stage we understand the court will be open. This rally will NOT be cancelled, regardless of whether the hearing goes ahead or not.
Speakers at the rally are:
Andrew Wilkie MP
Senator Rex Patrick
Andrew Leigh MP
Sister Susan Connelly
Senator Peter Whish-Wilson
Bernard Collaery was caught up in this as a result of acting as a lawyer for Witness K, having his offices raided and legal files for his case with Witness K in the Hague taken – surely a breach of the law in itself. Here is a very informative clip from the Senate LCAL Committee with Senator Carr interrogating the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions representative about the public and national interest in prosecuting Bernard Collaery and Witness K. If you have time, it’s well worth a look. Senator Carr makes the important point – how can the prosecutions be in the national interest when they are seriously harming our relations with Timor Leste? The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions has just had her term renewed, for up to 7 years. It would be a good time for her to review her future workload and drop these prosecutions. These cases have gone on for far too long – they are vindictive and causing untold stress.
Are we turning into a police state, like Belarus, Russia or China? We must strongly protest this unaccountability and corruption of our legal system, where something just has to have the label of National Security applied and secrecy ensues in the court.
See further articles on the trials here at the AAPP website at https://aapp.ipan.org.au/article/articles-may-2021/.
We would also like to express huge gratitude to Bernard’s and David’s Barristers and Lawyers – Gilbert + Tobin and Xenophon Davis respectively – who are going above and beyond with their assistance for them. Please keep up your invaluable support for these men of courage and integrity and we hope to see you this Thursday 3 June at 9am at the Courts.