Monday, November 9, 2020

TOP END BUGGING CASE PROTEST

Pictorial  coverage  of  Darwin's   part  in  yesterday's  national  rally in support  of  Witness K and Canberra lawyer  Bernard Collaery, charged over the revelation that the Australian government  bugged the  Cabinet  office of  Timor-Leste in Dili  during  negotiations   over  the proposed  maritime boundary between the two  countries and  exploitation of  its  energy  reserves. 

Held outside the NT  Supreme Court , the   event was organised by longtime  East Timor activist Robert Wesley- Smith,  seen  below , wearing a made in Timor  T-shirt, addressing  the audience. Witness K and  Collaery are regarded as heroes in Timor Leste .The T-shirt sports the message SOLIDARITY WITH WITNESS K AND BERNARD  COLLAERY,with  the lawyer's face in  close up . 


  It was  decided to call  the only tree in the court carpark the  East Timor Tree . Incredibly,  the  rally seems not to have been covered  by the local  media ,which is not unusual  in  so called  local  newspapers and other media  in  North Australia . 

After  the demo, Wesley-Smith   entered  the  court  building  where there is a pictorial display , including one  of  his  cousin, Chief  Justice  Brian Ross Martin , who presided over  the  Bradley   Murdoch    outback  NT  murder of  Peter Falconio  case ; another  notorious case  involved   the   2005  Snowdon  murders  in  South  Australia . 

In  the l970s , Wesley -Smith  appeared in the former  Supreme Court  building after having  been  arrested  with  others   at  gunpoint by  defence  force  officers  on  a boat  attempting  to  take  supplies  to  East Timor.  


UPCOMING: Profile (highly condensed) of a veteran  Australian  activist .