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Australian Aborigines said a police decision to award bravery medals to 22 officers involved in riots sparked by the death of an indigenous man in police custody was "cheap, brutal and thuggish".
Queensland state Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson this week said the officers, sent to subdue 2004 riots on remote Palm Island after local man Mulrunji Doomadgee died in police custody, would all get bravery commendations.
"This is just not acceptable," Aboriginal community worker Sam Watson told state radio.
