Image: Demonstrators during a Pride in Protest rally. Esther Linder, AAP
by LALYNE PAISI HICKIE
Activist group Pride in Protest has organised a snap rally to go ahead on Sunday calling for justice for Veronica Baxter.
Evan van Zijl from Pride in Protest told City Hub, “In 2005 ,Veronica Baxter, an Aboriginal trans woman died in police custody while placed in a male prison.”
“We are coming close to the date of her death and are commemorating her.”
Taking place in this rally “means to stand against racism and homophobia that exists within our system,” they continued.
15 years ago, Veronica was arrested for drug-related offences, three days after Mardi Gras.
Her family was not contacted while she was in the Surry Hills lock up for 5 days.
Two days after she was transferred to the male prison, she was found hanging by a noose made from a bedsheet tied to the top of her bunk. However, the bunk from which she was found hanging was lower than her height.
Also one of her hands was reportedly broken at the time.
Regardless, two years later, when a coronial inquest into Veronica’s death was held, the coroner ruled her death as a suicide.
“Veronica, her friends, her family, and the community have not seen justice or comfort since her death,” Pride in Protest said in a statement.
“We demand justice for Veronica and all other Blak people killed in custody.”
The protest will take place at Surry Hills Police Station, where Veronica was first denied bail, at 11am.
As part of the protest, the group is also demanding that recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody be implemented.
The activist collective is also calling for the defunding, disarming and dismantling of police as well as the removal of sniffer dogs and undercover officers.
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