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Police Commissioner to apologise to Tibetan Independence Protesters.
Friends of Tibet (Wellington)
13 December 2000
The Commissioner of Police will apologise to Wellington Tibetan Independence protesters on Friday 15th over their arrests and treatment during the visit of the President of China in September 1999.
The group of five protesters have been involved in discussions with the Police for the past month. The apology is part of an out of Court settlement between the protesters and the Police. it comes a year after three of the protesters were arrested and detained by the Police for obstruction and another one was arrested for assault. All charges were dropped the following day.
Greg Nicol said today " I am relieved that finally after such a long time the Police have admitted that it was wrong to push and intimidate protesters, that is was wrong to arrest people simply to remove them from a protest, and that their tactics and level of force was not the best way to handle a peaceful protest".
Rick Sahar said today " I am pleased that the legal action we initiated is now nearly over. Our motivation from the start was to highlight and protect that New Zealanders' lawful rights for freedom of expression and protest never again be compromised. This week's Select Committee Report found no fault on the part of the protesters, however, it does strongly criticise Police for their mistakes. I am sure that by accepting the seven recommendations made in the Report, this will ensure that this violation of rights will not happen again".
There will be a short media conference, after the meeting with the Police, on Friday 15th December.
Contact: Rick Sahar ricksahar@clear.net.nz, Friends of Tibet (Wellington)
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