Image: Blockade Australia activists. Facebook, Blockade Australia
by SYDNEY BALDWIN
Following the arrest and 3-month jail sentence of climate change protester Laura Davy, 21, a second protester has been given a one month custodial sentence after he suspended himself above a railway track in Newcastle.
Samuel Gribben, 21, received appeal bail on Friday following his sentence for his action as part of the coal port Blockade Australia protests.
Activists for Blockade Australia have been protesting the climate crisis at the Newcastle Coal line over the past two weeks, calling for meaningful climate action through changes to the economic and political system.
“In my heart, I know that what I did was very important and I hope that it has inspired a lot of young people to act their politics and take direct action where they see necessary,” Gribben said in a statement outside the court before his sentencing.
His mother, Cath, described it as “devastating”.
“It’s been brutal,” she said.
“I’ve worked so hard to raise fine people who put care for the earth and all living beings above all else. For Sam to be penalised for this by a government that puts profit and power ahead of our precious earth is devastating.”
In April 2022, the NSW Parliament passed legislation preventing “illegal protesting” on major roads, bridges, tunnels, public transport, and infrastructure facilities. A maximum penalty of $22,000, two years in prison or both are potential consequences for breaking the law.
Gribben was charged for blocking trains in Newcastle and has been fined $1100 along with his one month sentence.
Laura Davy is currently out on severity bail following her 3 month sentence.
“A heinous over-reach for peaceful protest”
Civil rights groups have decried the sentences and judgement as anti-democratic.
Amnesty International, Australian Democracy Network and Human Rights Law Centre expressed their concerns about “the chilling effect of this sentence on communities’ capacity to engage in protest.”
Jackson from Blockade Australia said, “The sentencing we have seen coming out of the Newcastle Court this week is a heinous over-reach for peaceful protest. The infrastructure being blocked by these protests is part of the machine that is bringing our life support systems to the brink of collapse.”
“These actions should be seen as acts of self defence and of solidarity for all the people already suffering the impacts of the climate crisis.
“The courts and so called ‘justice’ system of Australia were instituted on the dispossession of first nations land and continue to uphold laws designed to favour the corporate and political elite.
“These sentences are an indication of a system afraid of ordinary people actively participating in the political arena.”
Further calls for current protest laws to be repealed
Following the first arrest of a protestor, Lydia Shelly, President, NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) called for the laws to be immediately repealed.
“There is no place for them in an open and democratic society. The right to protest is integral to democratic system of government and way of life,” she said.
“In Australia, protest movements have historically been instrumental in holding governments to account and affecting real change. This has included disruptive protests that are considered ‘inconvenient.’”
Shelly adds that these anti-protest laws “not only criminalise protests, but they also cultivate an environment of fear and they have a chilling effect on organising peaceful movements that desire positive social change.”
