Former Greens candidate Hannah Thomas speaks from hospital as NSW police charge her over protest

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"Former Greens candidate Hannah Thomas charged after injury at pro-Palestinian protest"

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Hannah Thomas, a former candidate for the Greens party, has been charged with resisting police following her injury during a pro-Palestinian protest in Belmore, New South Wales. The incident occurred on Friday morning when Thomas sustained significant facial injuries during her arrest. She was subsequently taken to the hospital, where she shared updates with her supporters via social media. In a video posted on Instagram, Thomas expressed her gratitude for the community's support and revealed that she might face permanent vision loss in her right eye as a result of her injuries. Thomas emphasized that she was participating in a peaceful protest and described her physical stature, highlighting the disparity of power in her encounter with law enforcement. The police issued a future court attendance notice, charging her with hindering or resisting a police officer in the execution of duty, as well as refusing to comply with dispersal orders. Her court appearance is scheduled for August 12 at Bankstown local court.

The protest targeted a local business purportedly involved in providing services to the Israeli defense industry, amid broader international calls for nations to halt the supply of military equipment to Israel, particularly F-35 fighter jets. The New South Wales Greens MP and justice spokesperson, Sue Higginson, has called for an investigation into the police's actions, criticizing what she perceives as a culture of impunity among law enforcement. Higginson pointed to the recent anti-protest laws enacted by the New South Wales Parliament as contributing factors to the police's aggressive tactics during protests. She urged for a reversal of these measures, framing them as part of an agenda against peaceful protest. Thomas’s experience has sparked discussions regarding police conduct and the rights of individuals to peacefully assemble and express their views, especially in the context of contentious political issues such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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The former Greens candidate Hannah Thomas has been charged with resisting police after she was injured at a pro-Palestinian protest.

Thomas, who ran against Anthony Albanese in the Sydney electorate of Grayndler at the federal election, sustained facial injuries while being arrestedin Belmore on Friday morningand was taken to hospital.

Ina statement on Sunday evening, New South Wales police said a 35-year-old woman had been issued a future court attendance notice for hindering or resisting a police officer in the execution of duty and refusing/failing to comply with direction to disperse.

She is scheduled to appear at Bankstown local court on 12 August.

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Thomas shared a video on social media on Sunday evening thanking her community for their support and saying there was a possibility she could lose her sight in one eye.

“I’ve been very lucky to have been looked after so well,” she said in an Instagram post recorded at Bankstown hospital.

“I don’t want to get into too much detail about the traumatic events on Friday but I’m five-foot-one, I weigh about 45kg, I was engaged in peaceful protest … My interactions with NSW police have left me potentially without vision in my right eye permanently.”

The NSW Greens MP and justice spokesperson, Sue Higginson, hascalled for an investigation.

“The level of impunity the police displayed doesn’t come from nowhere,” she said on Monday. “It’s written there in black and white – a direct reference to the anti-protest laws rushed through the NSW Parliament.”

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She called for the “agenda of intolerance and anti-protest measures” to be reversed.

Theprotest took place outside a business in Belmoreaccused of “supplying electroplating and surface coating services for a variety of applications including aerospace and defence technology” to Israel.

This year an international campaign urgednations that produce F-35 fighter jets to stop supplying Israel.

SEC Plating told Guardian Australia on Friday that: “We have no involvement in providing plating services for various parts used in the F-35 Jet program.“We do not have any business servicing F-35 components. We do have business servicing some Australian defence manufactures however F-35 components are not part of this.”

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Source: The Guardian