Good to see somebody practicing what they preach.
Three cheers for Prof Simon Rice
The Guardian Australia reports
Professor Simon Rice, whose students are working on reforming protest laws, pushed to the ground by police and fined $1,000 as students protest against job losses
A University of Sydney law professor, who was observing a student protest on Wednesday as part of research into protest law, was thrown to the ground by police, then arrested and fined.
Prof Simon Rice said he was not participating in the protest and was trying to move past it when he was pushed to the ground by police with “disproportionate force”.
Prof Simon Rice
Multiple students and staff were arrested at the university as hundreds protested the government’s changes to higher education, university funding cuts and job losses.
Previous protests at the university have also been disrupted by police with arrests made.
Footage captured by the university’s student newspaper, Honi Soit, showed Rice being pushed to the ground by police, and another student thrown to the ground.
“I have been running an extracurricular volunteer law firm research project,” Rice told Guardian Australia. “I have a bunch of students who are working on reforming protest laws. I told them there is a protest today and you may want to watch. I also chose to watch.
“The footage shows from a distance them pushing me down. That is actually the second time, they had kicked my legs out from under me and that was me trying to get up again, then they pushed me down.”
Rice, who is the University of Sydney’s Kim Santow chair in law and social justice, said he was trying to walk around the protest when he was arrested.
“The only way I could get out was to walk through to Parramatta Road, then when I walked past the police they made a move,” he said.
“It was violent without causing any particular harm. Disproportionate force, completely unjustified.”
Read article in full at. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/oct/14/sydney-university-professor-who-teaches-law-of-protest-arrested-while-watching-student-protest
