Did you know: there are protesters in Australia who allegedly committed acts that just a few months ago would have been legally considered minor traffic offences, yet who are now facing months or years locked up, and are currently under bail conditions that effectively prevent them from going online at all, from being able to contact many/most of their friends, and who are subject to the complete loss of any right to privacy (being able to have all their devices searched by police at any point, and they must share any passwords)? And all this without yet having been convicted of any crime, while awaiting trial for alleged offences that just nine months ago would have most likely been resolved with a fine of a few hundred dollars.

#CriminalisationOfDissent #auspol #FreeVioletCoco #AusPol2022 #NSWpol

Today's political prisoner by @firstdogonthemoon.

"You are welcome to argue that Australia's state and federal governments (along with the police) are not simply the armed wing of the #FossilFuelIndustry... Write your explanation on a postcard and mail it to your grandchildren"

#ClimateProtest #auspol #AusPol2022 #FreeVioletCoco #ClimateCriminals #DirtyEnergyDirtyPolitics #DirtyEnergy #CriminalisationOfDissent

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/dec/07/violet-coco-is-in-prison-meanwhile-the-fossil-fuel-people-are-really-getting-value-for-money

According to newly introduced penalties, all of NSW government cabinet should go to jail, as their political agenda has disrupted the normal functioning of NSW Transport Trains, a critical infrastructure.

According to "nobody is above the rule of law", if Violet Coco is in jail, so should them --at least from a layman's perspective.

Otherwise, #FreeVioletCoco. The rule of law shouldn't be skewed against particular views, or that difficult to interpret.

Canberra rally speaker and the Green Institute executive director, Tim Hollo, said the sentence was a “window into how our system is going into high gear to defend the right to suck the planet dry for profit”.

“We all need to use our democratic rights to call for Violet to be freed and to start building a real democracy that works for people and planet,” he said.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/05/deanna-violet-coco-jailed-climate-activist-protester-sydney-harbour-bridge-nsw-premier

#ClimateCrisis #democracy #RightToProtest #FreeVioletCoco

In my newsletter on Friday, I highlighted an outrageous 15-month prison sentence given to Violet Coco for a peaceful protest in Sydney, noting how the Australian authorities are targeting climate protesters like her for disproportionate punishment.

Today, in Perth, the newsletter headline, "Seriously, Australia?" was spotted at a #FreeVioletCoco demonstration.

https://www.hrw.org/the-day-in-human-rights/2022/12/02?story=paragraph-4666