NSW Police Are Using Strip Searches to Intimidate
The NSW coronial inquiry into six drug-related deaths at music festivals heard testimony last week regarding a police officer who threatened to make a strip search “nice and slow”, unless the woman being ordered to take her clothes off, confessed...
Extinction Rebellion Activist Imprisoned Over Non-Custodial Offence
As the reality of the climate emergency becomes more widely accepted throughout the community, those who continue to deny it seem to be mainly those in charge. And, as usual, they want to clamp down on individuals who don’t reflect...
Zapatista Indigenous Autonomous Zones Threatened by Militarisation
A group of leading intellectuals from around the globe have penned an open letter calling out the Mexican government’s increased militarisation in the south-eastern state of Chiapas, as they’re concerned deployed troops could turn against the Zapatista Army of National...
West Papuans Have United to Reclaim Their Nation
The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) announced last week that the three main West Papuan military factions have united under the one single command. And the newly-formed West Papua Army is now operating under its political leadership. The...
Decriminalise Queensland Sex Work: An Interview With Respect’s Janelle Fawkes
Amnesty International adopted a sex work decriminalisation policy back in 2016. It was a move that formally recognised the high rates of human rights abuses in the industry, as well as that many of the harms associated with sex work...
“Legalise and License the Supply of Drugs”: An Interview With Chris Daw QC
Criminal defence barrister Chris Daw QC is an outspoken advocate of drug legalisation. The 1912 International Opium Convention was the first transnational drug control treaty. Born out of concerns over opium use in China, the document was signed in the...
Federal Government’s Rights-Erasing Law Bonanza
The 46th Parliament of Australia opened on 2 July to finance minister Mathias Cormann waving about the Tax Relief So Working Australians Keep More of Their Money Bill. One might be forgiven for translating the legislation’s title to “progressively robbing...
The Offence of Armed Robbery in NSW
Between 1982 and 1987, Ian Robert Steele carried out 30 armed robberies in NSW. Known as “The Rabbit”, the career criminal was notorious for hiding his identity via the wearing of a disguise or the dying of his hair, as...
Sydney Criminal Lawyer Charged With Assisting Extreme-Risk Inmate Run Drugs
Sydney solicitor Martin Churchill is being held on remand for his alleged involvement in a drug supply syndicate that his client former Brothers 4 Life leader Bassam Hamzy was running out of his cell at Goulburn Supermax prison. Police raided...
Taking to the Streets in Protest? Know Your Rights Beforehand
The mid-April climate emergency protests in London shut down parts of the city for over a week. Instigated by the Extinction Rebellion (XR) movement, these acts of nonviolent civil disobedience led to the arrests of over 1,000 protesters. And local...
