An Australian policeman accused of killing an Aboriginal prisoner was found not guilty yesterday after a racially charged trial in the northern state of Queensland.
An all-white jury found police sergeant Chris Hurley not guilty of killing Cameron Doomadgee, 36, whose death in custody in November 2004 sparked days of rioting in the remote indigenous community of Palm Island.
Hurley had pleaded not guilty to charges of manslaughter and assault at the trial at the Queensland Supreme Court in Townsville, which has pitted police against Aborigines in the state.
Aboriginal activist Gracelyn Smallwood expressed disappointment at the verdict but said there should be no repeat of the violence that followed the death of Doom-adgee, who was also known by his tribal name Mulrunji.
She said the fact that Hurley had been brought to trial -- the first time a Queensland police officer has faced a jury over an Aboriginal death in custody -- was in itself an advance.
"Of course we wanted justice and we never got it," Smallwood told reporters outside the court.
"But we've had a win because the whole world is watching this country. We don't want any violence, we want peace and we want everybody to be monitoring the police department," she said.
Doomadgee was arrested for public drunkenness in November 2004 after verbally abusing police as he walked past a domestic dispute, and was found dead in his cell within an hour.
After his death, Palm Island residents torched the police station and the homes of the island's 14 police officers in a violent rampage that only ended when extra officers were flown in from the mainland.
The case caused outrage among Aborigines when prosecutors initially said there was not enough evidence to charge Hurley, despite evidence from the coroner that Doomadgee died when a blow left his liver "cleaved in two."
An independent review resulted in charges but police in Queensland said Hurley had become a political scapegoat, with officers threatening industrial action and many wearing blue wristbands in support of their colleague.
Prosecutors alleged that Hurley had performed a "knee-drop" to Doomadgee's torso, while the defense said the injury occurred accidentally when Hurley landed on top of the prisoner as they struggled in the doorway of a holding cell.
Queensland Police Union president Gary Wilkinson said Hurley had been through an ordeal but took strength from the support offered within his community and the police force.
"There will be no celebration, there are no winners," Wilkinson said. "The Doomadgee family and Chris and his family have endured a terrible ordeal since November 19, 2004."
Stewart Levitt, a solicitor with the Aboriginal legal group the Errol Wyles Foundation, said prosecutors appeared to have mounted a "minimalist" case against Hurley by not calling police and Aboriginal eyewitnesses to testify.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese