Right to protest freely was trampled, say MPs

By VERNON SMALL deputy political editor

A parliamentary inquiry into the blocking of protests against Chinese President Jiang Zemin says police infringed protesters' fundamental civil rights.

But the committee of MPs found no evidence that then-Prime Minister Jenny Shipley instigated the move to clear protesters from the venue of a state banquet.

The committee said its investigation was hampered by difficulty obtaining evidence, in particular crucial video footage taken outside the banquet venue which had been "inadvertently" taped over by police.

Police also at times gave "unconvincing and inaccurate" evidence, the select committee reported.

It said police were not always impartial during the demonstrations, did not give due weight to the right to protest, and infringed fundamental civil rights.

President Jiang had refused to come to the Christchurch banquet while protesters were present. It was delayed for 90 minutes until the noisy protesters were pushed around a corner away from the entrance to the Hotel Grand Chancellor.

Police also used sirens and buses to block out the protest.

The committee's report on police handling of the demonstrations in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch criticised officers for giving conflicting evidence under oath.

Evidence given by the police officer in charge at an incident outside Christchurch Boys' High School was "unconvincing and inaccurate."

Three schoolboy protesters were threatened with arrest and surrounded by an illegally parked bus and two vans to shield their "Free Tibet" banners from the President.

The inquiry chairwoman, Janet Mackey, said yesterday that police had seen "a Chinese President versus a handful of scruffy-looking protesters and they opted for the President."

They also did not know how to respond to pressure from Chinese officials to shield President Jiang from protests.

How protests should be handled was contained only in police regulations. The committee recommended that it should be written into law.

It also urged a change to the Police Act to clarify the separation between the Government and the police. And it said visiting dignitaries should be clearly told how the Government's powers were limited under the Bill of Rights.

Protecting freedom of expression meant visiting dignitaries could expect a robust expression of views. But they should not be humiliated or subjected to messages that were defamatory or illegal.

Police policy on demonstrations should be rewritten to place greater emphasis on the protection of freedoms of expression and assembly.

Mrs Mackey said police had been slightly contemptuous of the inquiry and did not seem to think it was "terribly important."

"We had to really drag evidence out."

At times police evidence was inconsistent.

In Auckland, police had argued that a bus did not hide the protesters, but video coverage showed it had. There was no pre-determined strategy to suppress Free Tibet protests, but those demonstrators were given a harder time than others.

Operational instructions in Wellington had noted President Jiang "had a certain sensitivity in respect of both visible and audible protest" and police should "make every effort to minimise the impact of protest."

Although there was no nationwide policy to use arrest to shut down and limit protest, arrests were made to remove protesters from a particular location, without proper grounds.

Last night, Police Commissioner Rob Robinson said the evidence given by police officers varied because they could not remember the events clearly, not because they had colluded to deceive the committee.

Although he accepted that one officer's evidence was "inconsistent," it was because the officer did not take notes and had forgotten what happened.

Mr Robinson was not prepared to comment on allegations by Mrs Mackey that police had not taken the committee seriously and had a "contemptuous attitude."

He said it was a "moot point" whether protesters in Christchurch were a threat to the Chinese delegation but admitted that some officers had overstepped the mark.

He was disappointed that a video of Mrs Shipley talking to police had been wiped because it would have corroborated officers' statements.

Gatt Watchdog spokesman Aziz Choudry welcomed the committee's criticism of police handling of the protests.

He said police actions during the protests were an indication of their lack of political neutrality.