Sydney judge overturns bail conditions limiting anti-Herzog protester from entering CBD

Police patrol a protest against the state visit to Australia of the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, on 9 February. Photograph: Flavio Brancaleone/AAP View image in fullscreen Police patrol a protest against the state visit to Australia of the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, on 9 February. Photograph: Flavio Brancaleone/AAP Sydney judge overturns bail conditions limiting anti-Herzog protester from entering CBD Not ‘reasonable’ to impose that Siena Hopper, 25, with no criminal history, should be excluded from Sydney" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="117106" data-entity-type="location">City of Sydney except for work or to attend court Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast A judge has overturned the bail conditions imposed by police on a Sydney anti-Herzog protester with no criminal history, saying the conditions were not “reasonable”. Lawyer Wael Skaf made an application before the Downing Centre local court to vary Siena Hopper’s bail conditions, which barred her from attending any “unlawful protests” and included a condition that she not enter the Sydney" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="117106" data-entity-type="location">City of Sydney except for work or to attend court. Hopper is one of 26 people whom police have charged after the protest in February at Sydney town hall against the visiting Israeli president, Isaac Herzog. According to Nick Hanna, a lawyer acting on behalf of several of the protesters, a senior person in the force has indicated another 30 people may be charged. The police watchdog is continuing to investigate allegations of widespread police misconduct at the protest. Hopper’s case is likely to drag through court for months after she pleaded not guilty to one count of assaulting a police officer. A police prosecutor opposed the request to remove her bail condition that she not enter the Sydney" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="117106" data-entity-type="location">City of Sydney. He proposed replacing the condition that she be allowed to enter the CBD so long as it was not for a protest, arguing she could “endanger the safety of other community members”. Deputy chief judge Michael Antrum overturned the conditions, pointing out she had no criminal history. He also questioned why there was a need to include a condition she not attend any “unlawful protests”, a condition that has been imposed for several of the protesters. “I don’t find this a very useful condition of bail,” he said. “[It’s] a redundant provision because that would be a breach of bail in any event. “There is, in my view, no reason to exclude her from the Sydney" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="117106" data-entity-type="location">City of Sydney local government area. I don’t consider those conditions were reasonable, in my view”. In recent months, several protesters have successfully overturned similar conditions that they not enter the CBD except for work or court attendance. Hanna made a successful application onWednesday to strike out the condition for his client Prince Aydin, 42. Hanna told Guardian Australia: “This is a condition typically used for offences like domestic violence to stop offenders from going near the resident or place of work of the complainant. “We are seeing this concerning trend of the police imposing these place restriction conditions on protesters for relatively minor protest-related offences, and the only discernible motive we can see on the part of the police is to prevent them from exercising the democratic right to protest.” Aydin was arrested last month by eight tactical officers who, at 5am, “smashed the door open” of their home while they were asleep, leading lawyers to raise concerns over the heavy-handed tactics. Aydin was charged with resisting police at the Herzog rally, intimidating police, using indecent language, and for allegedly throwing a water bottle. Lecc (the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission) is investigating the nature of the arrest after it was referred to the body by the Greens MP Sue Higginson. Samantha Lee, an assistant principal solicitor at Redfern Legal Centre, said in a statement released last week that the police’s highly publicised and “disproportionate” arrest of Aydin had had a chilling effect. “These excessive police actions risk undermining the Lecc investigation entirely by deterring witnesses from engaging with the process out of fear or intimidation,” she said, adding it may amount to interference in the investigation. On Tuesday, another protester Jace Turner, had his strict bail conditions varied to allow him to attend a Scottish Highlands-themed festival. In a viral incident captured on video from the protest, Turner, 28, was restrained on the light-rail tracks near Sydney’s town hall while two officers appear to punch Turner repeatedly while he allegedly bites one officer’s finger. Under bail conditions granted after his initial arrest and charge, Turner is not allowed to leave his home between 7pm and 6am. 1:01 NSW police punch person multiple times during Sydney anti-Herzog protest – video Turner has previously pleaded not guilty to a charge of assaulting a police officer in execution of duty, causing actual bodily harm, which carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, and the police commissioner, Mal Lanyon, have defended the police actions at the Herzog rally. Minns said in the days after the 9 February protest police had been placed in an “impossible situation”. Lanyon said rally speakers had “incited the crowd” and police had initially shown “remarkable restraint” until protesters attempted to march to parliament. “The police did what they needed to do, which was to hold the line and then fall and move the protesters back with a view to dispersing them. That was designed to keep the community safe.” Explore more on these topics New South Wales Sydney Protest Australian police and policing news Share Reuse this content