No Justice for Aboriginals in Queensland
December 17th 2006 13:53
What is going on in the Australian state of Queensland?
An aboriginal man affected by alcohol makes some rude and offensive comments to a police officer. He is arrested for this and a few hours latter he is dead in the holding cells of the Palm Island Police station.
His liver has been ruptured and almost split in half and he has four broken ribs.
The man cries out in pain and receives no treatment other then a cursory inspection. It is then discovered that he could be dead. An ambulance is called and the man is pronounced dead.
His family visits the police station to find out when he will be released and they are sent away with no one told of the fact that he is dead.
Police who are personally know to the arresting officer are sent out to investigate and they are meet by the arresting officer and in fact share dinner with him that night.
The Deputy State coroner investigates the death and finds that the arresting officer should be held accountable for the death.
The Director of Public Prosecution however finds that in her opinion there should be know charges laid and cites but does not present additional evidence. Her finding is delivered in a one page statement unlike the coroners report which is a 35 page statement based on a lengthy hearing that took place over 18months.
The Queensland Crime and Misconduct Commission also find that no disciplinary charges should be laid against any police officer.
The only people apparently now left to investigate the police officer are the police themselves.
Both the Premier Peter Beattie and Police Minister refuse any further investigation and tell the Palm Island community that they should accept the decision and move on
A man is picked up for offensive language and is dead a few hours latter yet no one is responsible for anything that happened to this man.
There are so many questions that need to be answered.
How did the Deputy Coroner get her findings so wrong?
What is the extra evidence the DPP claims to have seen to persuade her to issue her findings?
Why has she not revealed how she came to this conclusion and the same goes here for the CMC?
Why was the family not told of his death when they presented to the Police station?
How does someone in custody wether wrongfully or rightfully die in a police holding cell?
How can any police investigation be taken seriously when the officer under investigation dines with those who are investigating him?
There are plenty more questions that need to be answered and as the Premier of this State Peter Beattie needs to hold an inquiry into all of these questions.
Aboriginals in this state and in the rest of Australia for to long have been met with the crocodile tears and tut tuts of white politicians over their plight and the injustices served out to them but when it comes to the crunch they are treated how the have always been since colonisation. As second-class citizens. How about a fair go for all?
If this was some middle class white guy dead in a police holding cell in Brisbane I sadly feel the whole thing would be treated very differently.
I ask for people everywhere not just Queensland, not just Australia but all those who support justice to ask why and demand answers.
Here are links to the reports mentioned:
Deputy State Corners Report
Director of Public Prosecutions Statement
Crime and Misconduct Commission Statement
I urge all to read the deputy Coroners Report.
An aboriginal man affected by alcohol makes some rude and offensive comments to a police officer. He is arrested for this and a few hours latter he is dead in the holding cells of the Palm Island Police station.
His liver has been ruptured and almost split in half and he has four broken ribs.
The man cries out in pain and receives no treatment other then a cursory inspection. It is then discovered that he could be dead. An ambulance is called and the man is pronounced dead.
His family visits the police station to find out when he will be released and they are sent away with no one told of the fact that he is dead.
Police who are personally know to the arresting officer are sent out to investigate and they are meet by the arresting officer and in fact share dinner with him that night.
The Deputy State coroner investigates the death and finds that the arresting officer should be held accountable for the death.
The Director of Public Prosecution however finds that in her opinion there should be know charges laid and cites but does not present additional evidence. Her finding is delivered in a one page statement unlike the coroners report which is a 35 page statement based on a lengthy hearing that took place over 18months.
The Queensland Crime and Misconduct Commission also find that no disciplinary charges should be laid against any police officer.
The only people apparently now left to investigate the police officer are the police themselves.
Both the Premier Peter Beattie and Police Minister refuse any further investigation and tell the Palm Island community that they should accept the decision and move on
A man is picked up for offensive language and is dead a few hours latter yet no one is responsible for anything that happened to this man.
There are so many questions that need to be answered.
How did the Deputy Coroner get her findings so wrong?
What is the extra evidence the DPP claims to have seen to persuade her to issue her findings?
Why has she not revealed how she came to this conclusion and the same goes here for the CMC?
Why was the family not told of his death when they presented to the Police station?
How does someone in custody wether wrongfully or rightfully die in a police holding cell?
How can any police investigation be taken seriously when the officer under investigation dines with those who are investigating him?
There are plenty more questions that need to be answered and as the Premier of this State Peter Beattie needs to hold an inquiry into all of these questions.
Aboriginals in this state and in the rest of Australia for to long have been met with the crocodile tears and tut tuts of white politicians over their plight and the injustices served out to them but when it comes to the crunch they are treated how the have always been since colonisation. As second-class citizens. How about a fair go for all?
If this was some middle class white guy dead in a police holding cell in Brisbane I sadly feel the whole thing would be treated very differently.
I ask for people everywhere not just Queensland, not just Australia but all those who support justice to ask why and demand answers.
Here are links to the reports mentioned:
Deputy State Corners Report
Director of Public Prosecutions Statement
Crime and Misconduct Commission Statement
I urge all to read the deputy Coroners Report.
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Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
That's atrocious.
Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
Also, Post of the Day
Comment by Ahmed
Video Gamer Kids
Little Green Foosballs
PolyKicks
Comment by Suburban Boy
Oz Politics and Kulture!
Thanks for promoting the article on my blog. You ask about the 2 reports mentioned in the second link on my article. I think you may be referring to the two autopsies that were carried out on the dead man which is different to the coronial inquiry which is contained in the first link. Both autopsies are mentioned in the coroners report.
The reason two autopsies were carried out was the family of the dead man requested a second autopsy as they were dissatisfied with the report in the first one. I'm not sure if there are details of both autopsies available but certainly the coroner does go into some detail in her report on both of them.
Comment by Damo
Comment by Ahmed
Video Gamer Kids
Little Green Foosballs
PolyKicks
This is pretty sick, it lacks the epic scope of the cronala (spelling?) riots but it sure is as alarming...