Three people arrested in last year’s Florentine Valley Mother’s Day protest have had their charges dismissed in the Hobart Magistrates Court.
Ella Ashley, 57, and 62-year-olds Timothy Stephen Douglas and Robert Melville Alliston have each pleaded guilty to one count of trespass.
In May last year, the trio took part in an anti-logging rally with the conservation group Still Wild Still Threatened.
The three protesters were arrested after they broke a Forestry Tasmania exclusion zone which had been cordoned off by police.
Magistrate Olivia McTaggart said the defendants’ ages suggested they were intelligent and mature people who were exercising a right to express their opinions.
She also said their protest was peaceful and they had cooperated with police.
Ms McTaggart ordered they pay court costs of $32.64 and dismissed the matter.
Another 14 people arrested over the protest will appear in court next month.
Still Wild Still Threatened …
Media Release
21.7.2010
Dropped Florentine Charges Vindicate Peaceful Protest
Three people arrested in the Upper Florentine valley in May last year had their charges dropped in the Hobart Magistrates court yesterday.
Ella Ashley, 57, and 62-year-olds Timothy Stephen Douglas and Robert Melville Alliston pleaded guilty to one count of trespass.
The trio were arrested for entering an exclusion zone while taking part in a protest rally in opposition to logging of the Upper Florentine. The Magistrate, Ms. Mc Taggart, ordered the three protesters pay court costs and dismissed the matter
Still Wild Still Threatened spokesperson, Ed Hill says the magistrates decision to drop the charges is a vindication for peaceful forest protests.
This is a vindication for the peaceful defence of our irreplaceable ancient forests, that the Tasmanian and federal governments are continuing to obliterate, said Mr. Hill.
These forest defenders were peaceful, co-operative and exercised their democratic right to speak out against the despicable practice of logging high conservation value forests.
Protecting our native forests will give threatened species, biodiversity and our climate the breathing space it needs, said Mr. Hill.
Peaceful defenders of our world class forests, such as those whose charges were dropped yesterday, will be thanked by future generations, for standing up for biodiversity and the protection of the most carbon rich forests on the planet, said Mr.Hill.
Meanwhile …
Forestry groups say a Hobart magistrate’s decision to dismiss charges against three forest protesters will give others ‘free reign’ to flout the law.
Three protesters pleaded guilty to trespassing in a Forestry Tasmania exclusion zone but had their charges dropped on Tuesday.
Magistrate Olivia McTaggart told the court the trio had a right to express their views in peaceful protest.
But Barry Chipman from Timber Communities Australia says the decision could lead to more militant anti-logging protests.
“Timber Communities Australia would ask the courts to just clarify this matter. Are they now giving a green light for political invasion of any worksite?,” he asked.
Update:
