“We have long known that the Attorney-General had been working on a way to remove the freedom of association, and here it is,” said Ms Lim.

“These are not ‘anti-bikie’ laws.  These are anti-association laws.  The freedom of association is a fundamental freedom within our society, and Mr Porter has declared his determination to remove that freedom.

“We are waiting to see the details of this legislation before making full comment.  But this is a government whose reckless desire to be seen as ‘tough on crime’ has led to a blantant disregard for the rights of ordinary people, and we are expecting the worst.”

Ms Lim pointed out that there are serious problems with legislating against freedom of association.

“Any legislation which proposes to allow guilt by association is extremely radical legislation.

“You cannot legislate only against motorcycle clubs.    We are yet to learn how the Attorney-General proposes to determine what can be designated a ‘criminal organisation’,” said Ms Lim.

“However, we fear it will leave terrifying power in the hands of a few politicians.

“These anti-association laws follow the pattern of the defeated ‘stop and search’ bill; Prohibitive Behaviour Orders; and the debacle of the CHOGM Special Regulations.

“We saw exclusion notices handed out with neither rhyme nor reason during CHOGM” said Ms Lim.  “Our concern is that innocent members of our community will be penalised and victimised under this legislation also.

“Legislation such as this runs the risk of driving truly criminal organisations further underground, whilst turning innocent people into criminals.

“Search For Your Rights will be keeping a very close eye on this legislation when it is introduced.”

“We stand ready to oppose the curtailing of civil liberties in Western Australia, and we encourage the community to do the same.”

A print-friendly version of this release can be downloaded here.

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Search for Your Rights is a non-partisan community group of over 2,400 members, initially formed to oppose the Barnett government’s stop and search laws. The group recently resolved to expand its platform to oppose further aspects of the Barnett Government’s extreme law and order agenda.

Media contact: Alex Cassie 0421 201 368 searchforyourrights@gmail.com

“Since the CHOGM Special Regulations have been in place we have seen how these powers are arbitrary, unhelpful and open to abuse.   Now we see the disgusting abuse of these powers for the intimdation of peaceful protestors” said Search For Your Rights’ spokesperson Pearl Lim.

“Emma was at her partner’s family home when seven policemen arrived at 7am, arrested her, and proceeded to search the house.  The police insinuated that they had been surveying Emma and had purposefully arrived when they knew that the owners of the house were away, by asking how the holiday of her partner’s parents was going” said Ms Lim.

“They said that they didn’t need a warrant, because the offence I was going to be charged with was so serious they just didn’t need one” said Emma.  “They took photos of each page of my diary, took all the cards out of my wallet, and were asking about the CHOGM Action Network.”

“They told me that I was under arrest for ‘criminal damage’- for spraypainting the word ‘protest’ on lawn on Barrack St.  They told me that the only process they needed to follow was getting a phonecall from a senior officer” said Emma.

“When I tried to ring for advice, they took my phone.  When my partner tried to ring for advice, they took his phone and made him stand outside in the road until they had finished the search and taken me to the police station.”

After six hours in custody, Emma was released without charge.  She has since been served with an Exclusion Notice.  Emma has never been involved in a violent protest, nor has any previous charges.

“I can’t get to uni because all of the buses go through the exclusion zones” said Emma.  “I do a double degree and exam period is coming up; I need to get to uni.”

“Whatever process there has been seems to have been thrown out the window with these Special Regulations” said Ms Lim.

“We saw in the raids on homes of other CHOGM Action Network members a fortnight ago that no charges were laid, and that all police are interested in is protest material.”

“This material is all available on the CHOGM Protest website.  The police could have solved themselves a lot of trouble.”

“We have no choice but to come to the conclusion that these police actions, and the Exclusion Notices, are entirely arbitrary and purely for intimidatory purposes” said Ms Lim.

“There has been no justification given for these heavy handed, totalitarian actions.  One has to wonder- who is on the secret list in the Commissioner’s desk drawer?   We can expect the Premier to come out claiming that CHOGM was a total success and that the laws worked.  But these regulations do not increase safety.”

“These regulations do nothing other than to enable the intimidation of peaceful citizens.”

“Emma does not know why she has been targeted – and neither do we, or you, or anyone other than the Commissioner, the Deputy Commissioner, and the Police Minister.”

Emma will still attend the approved protest today- for as long as it is outside of exclusion zones.

“So many people are cut out of the decision making process, and this is the only way they can make their voices heard” Emma said.  “I am absolutely dedicated to the right to peaceful protest.”

“These police actions are frightening, but they give another reason to exercise your right to protest.”

A more detailed account of Emma’s story can be heard at http://searchforyourrights.org/news/raided-for-no-reason/.

A print-friendly version of this release can be downloaded here.

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Search For Your Rights is in no way affiliated with the CHOGM Action Network or any other protest group.

Search for Your Rights is a non-partisan community group of over 2,400 members, initially formed to oppose the Barnett government’s stop and search laws. The group recently resolved to expand its platform to oppose further aspects of the Barnett Government’s extreme law and order agenda.

Media contact: Alex Cassie 0421 201 368 searchforyourrights@gmail.com

She was given an exclusion notice and a fortnight ago her partner’s parents’ house was raided by police while they were there. The parents were away – and the police knew it. One policeman asked her partner how his parents’ Greek holiday was going. The seven police arrested Emma, and prevented her from talking to her friends. They took her diaries, anti-CHOGM stickers and her phone. They went through her deleted text messages.

Emma is rightly scared of this intimidating behaviour. She is a UWA student and is not allowed onto UWA grounds and can’t catch public transport if the route runs through the city.

She does not know why she has been targeted – and neither do we, or you, or anyone other than the Commissioner, the Deputy Commissioner, and the Police Minister.

The following audio clips are courtesy of 6PR:

Part 1:

Part 2:

“Sean Gransch has worked for World Stages for over a decade and is a trusted employee of CHOGM.  The exclusion notice delivered to him yesterday unjustly removed his right to work and earn a living.”

Sean Gransch is employed constructing stages for CHOGM, and it is believed his employee had wanted him to continue working today.  He arrived at work and was arrested, as it was within the exclusion zone.

“Yesterday we understood the draconian and unhelpful nature of these exclusion notices.  Today we see the total injustice and absurd punishment given out to members of our community” said Ms Lim.

“Sean Gransch now faces the possibility of a year in jail just for arriving at work.  The Barnett government is making criminals of hardworking innocent people- and to what end?”

“How many members of our community is Barnett willing to throw in jail just to intimidate people he doesn’t like, and to look tough for visiting dignitaries?

“In April the Premier said that ‘world leaders and international visitors will hopefully carry back to their respective countries an unforgettable impression of Western Australia’.  In reality the impression we’re getting is: ‘welcome to Western Australia- be ready to get searched and be arrested.’”

Cameron Johnson, a fellow member of Forest Rescue who has also worked at CHOGM, does not understand the logic of these exclusion orders.

“Not only have they removed his freedom, but they’re taking his job away too.  Sean has been on the CHOGM job from the first days.  He is well-qualifed and trusted.”

Mr Johnson has also been delivered an exclusion notice.

“I wanted to go into court to give him support but I can’t because it’s in the exclusion zone.”

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Search For Your Rights is in no way affiliated with Forest Rescue or the CHOGM Action Network

Download the print-friendly release here.

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Search for Your Rights is a non-partisan community group of over 2,400 members, initially formed to oppose the Barnett government’s stop and search laws. The group recently resolved to expand its platform to oppose further aspects of the Barnett Government’s extreme law and order agenda.

Media contact: Alex Cassie 0421 201 368 searchforyourrights@gmail.com

“Search For Your Rights understands the utmost need for security for this important event. However the Special Regulations are more than enough without arbitrary targeting of community members” said Pearl Lim, Search For Your Rights spokesperson.

“These exclusion notices are not outlined in the CHOGM Special Powers Regulations. We have no idea how it is decided who is slapped with one of these notices – is it just people the Barnett Government doesn’t like?” said Ms Lim.

“The Barnett Government is obsessed with anti-association measures and prohibition orders. This leaves us wondering how far they will go. We may all be on a list somewhere, and we don’t know when that will be used against us.”

“Having strong views on a social issue is not a crime, and it is terrifying to see our government treating it as such.”

“The stringent security measures prohibiting certain items in the exclusion zones are sufficient. These notices amount to nothing less than a frightening demonstration of the lack of concern for freedoms and rights in our state under the Barnett Government.”

“These prohibitions on free movement are draconian, arbitrary, and unhelpful.” said Ms Lim. “We saw only recently the raids on homes of members of the CHOGM Action Network. This is the next step in the relentless intimidation tactics of the Barnett Government.”

“Barnett keeps saying he respects the right to peaceful protest – but actions speak louder than words.”

Download the print-friendly release here.

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Search for Your Rights is a non-partisan community group of over 2,400 members, initially formed to oppose the Barnett government’s stop and search laws. The group recently resolved to expand its platform to oppose further aspects of the Barnett Government’s extreme law and order agenda.

Media contact: Alex Cassie 0421 201 368 searchforyourrights@gmail.com

“In two separate raids, three peoples’ homes were raided in a shocking demonstration of the type of heavy-handed tactics we at Search For Your Rights were fearful of in the lead up to CHOGM” Pearl Lim, Search For Your Rights spokesman said today.

“These were the homes of members of the CHOGM Action Network, a legal community group dedicated to peacefully raising some of the issues in our Commonwealth.”

The three were all arrested on suspicion of spray-painting the word ‘PROTEST’ on public property.
One of the three arrested, Colleen Bulger, said that it was obvious the police were there for more than spray cans.

“They kept asking about CHOGM and were very interested in leaflets we had around the house” she said. “When they arrested me they kept saying ‘we know more than you think’, and suggesting that I had been under surveillance” Ms Bulger said. “It’s absolutely harassment and an attempt to intimidate us into stopping lawful activities”.

Another victim of the raids, who wishes to remain nameless, hadn’t been at home when the raid occurred, but was followed by the police to university where he was arrested on Thursday morning.

“They implied that the suspected offence wasn’t what concerned them, and that it was the protest that they were interested in” he said.

Those arrested have also had their phones confiscated in order for the police to download information in an unnecessary breach of privacy.

The third man arrested, Seamus Doherty , also had his car confiscated after being released with no charge. Seamus is mobility impaired had told the police that his car and his phone “were his lifelines to work and family” and without them he was suffering “stress and possible loss of a job.”

“How can we claim to promote civil democracy across the Commonwealth when peaceful activists are intimidated by police in our own State?” Ms Lim said. “Mr Barnett claimed he upholds the right to protest- but here we see the truth.”

“If the police were so interested in getting flyers about the protest, they could have saved themselves the manpower and downloaded them off the website- it is an approved, public event” Ms Lim said.

“This kind of behaviour is deplorable, and is a worrying sign of what is tolerated by the government that supports top and search laws, anti-association laws and prohibited behaviour orders.”

The CHOGM Protest will be held at Forrest Place at 10am Friday 28th October .
Search For Your Rights is in no way affiliated with the CHOGM Action Network nor has any involvement with the protest.

Download print-friendly release here.

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Search for Your Rights is a non-partisan community group of over 2,300 members, initially formed to oppose the Barnett government’s stop and search laws. The group has expanded its platform to oppose further aspects of the Barnett Government’s extreme law and order agenda.

Media contact: Alex Cassie 0421 201 368 searchforyourrights@gmail.com

This is an incredible milestone in what has been a year-long campaign for Search For Your Rights. The SFYR campaign has reached out to all areas of the WA community and we have been amazed at the level of support we have received.

SFYR would like to thank everyone who opposed the stop and search laws. This is truly a case where the power of the people has brought about real change.

We must all remember that the price of democracy is eternal vigilance, and whilst today’s announcement is cause for celebration SFYR remains on guard, with the Police Minister promising he will continue his attempts to pass stop and search legislation. SFYR will also continue its opposition to other proposed laws that will have a detrimental effect on our civil rights, such as the Prohibited Behaviour Orders and the Anti-Association laws.