The family of an indigenous teenager who was allegedly assaulted by a police officer in Sydney last year have welcomed the decision to lay charges, saying they want the law to be “applied with fairness and justice.”
Police yesterday confirmed that an officer had been charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and common assault, 11 months after footage surfaced of him allegedly tripping a 16-year-old indigenous teenager while arresting him, slamming the boy face-first on to bricks.
The officer involved, a constable who has worked for New South Wales (NSW) police for three years, was placed on restricted duties in June last year after police professional standards launched an investigation into the incident.
In a statement, police said the officer was issued with a court attendance notice yesterday for assault occasioning actual bodily harm and common assault.
The officer is due to appear before Downing Centre local court on June 24.
Police said in a statement that the officer’s employment was “under review.”
The footage of the incident showed the boy standing meters away from the officer as someone said: “I don’t need to open my ears, I’ll crack you across the jaw, bro.”
The officer then approached the boy, using his leg to sweep the teenager’s feet from under him while his arms were held behind his back, causing the teenager to slam face-first into the ground.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the boy’s family said they were “happy with the way this is now proceeding, legally and fairly.”
“We know we cannot discuss the details of this case now that charges have been laid,” they said.
“We as a family cry and share the grief and pain of the families who have had the lives of their young black sons and daughters taken away from them violently by police and custodial authorities,” they said.
“Aboriginal people across Australia have been unfairly treated, racially vilified, and systematically oppressed since 1788. We look forward to the law being applied with fairness and justice,” they added.
The footage caused outrage when it was released, taking place amid worldwide Black Lives Matter protests following the murder of George Floyd by a US police officer.
In a statement, the chief executive of the Aboriginal Legal Service, Karly Warner, said the organization “welcome this step towards justice.”
“Aboriginal people are too often the target of systemic racism and police mistreatment,” she said.
“We are routinely harassed, stopped, questioned and searched by police for no reason. We are refused bail at higher rates and disproportionately pursued through the courts for minor offenses,” Warner said.
“You can’t have justice without accountability. Police should be subject to the same laws that apply to the community,” she added.
REBUILDING: A researcher said that it might seem counterintuitive to start talking about reconstruction amid the war with Russia, but it is ‘actually an urgent priority’ Italy is hosting the fourth annual conference on rebuilding Ukraine even as Russia escalates its war, inviting political and business leaders to Rome to promote public-private partnerships on defense, mining, energy and other projects as uncertainty grows about the US’ commitment to Kyiv’s defense. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy were opening the meeting yesterday, which gets under way as Russia accelerated its aerial and ground attacks against Ukraine with another night of pounding missile and drone attacks on Kyiv. Italian organizers said that 100 official delegations were attending, as were 40 international organizations and development banks. There are
The tale of a middle-aged Chinese man, or “uncle,” who disguised himself as a woman to secretly film and share videos of his hookups with more than 1,000 men shook China’s social media, spurring fears for public health, privacy and marital fidelity. The hashtag “red uncle” was the top trending item on China’s popular microblog Sina Weibo yesterday, drawing at least 200 million views as users expressed incredulity and shock. The online posts told of how the man in the eastern city of Nanjing had lured 1,691 heterosexual men into sexual encounters at his home that he then recorded and distributed online. The
TARIFF ACTION: The US embassy said that the ‘political persecution’ against former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro disrespects the democratic traditions of the nation The US and Brazil on Wednesday escalated their row over US President Donald Trump’s support for former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, with Washington slapping a 50 percent tariff on one of its main steel suppliers. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva threatened to reciprocate. Trump has criticized the prosecution of Bolsonaro, who is on trial for allegedly plotting to cling on to power after losing 2022 elections to Lula. Brasilia on Wednesday summoned Washington’s top envoy to the country to explain an embassy statement describing Bolsonaro as a victim of “political persecution” — echoing Trump’s description of the treatment of Bolsonaro as
CEREMONY EXPECTED: Abdullah Ocalan said he believes in the power of politics and social peace, not weapons, and called on the group to put that into practice The jailed leader of a Kurdish militant group yesterday renewed a call for his fighters to lay down their arms, days before a symbolic disarmament ceremony is expected to take place as a first concrete step in a peace process with the Turkish state. In a seven-minute video message broadcast on pro-Kurdish Medya Haber’s YouTube channel, Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), said that the peace initiative had reached a stage that required practical steps. “It should be considered natural for you to publicly ensure the disarmament of the relevant groups in a way that addresses the expectations