Australia Prepares Savage Attack On Democratic Rights.

People of Middle Eastern appearance were the primary target of the roadblocks. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that in one incident, four men and one woman were ordered by police to turn around and leave the area, despite no weapons being found. “We’ve done nothing wrong,” the woman said. “We’ve just been to visit a girl at Mortdale and came here for a drive.” An extra 450 police, including 20 dog-squad units and riot police, patrolled the city’s eastern suburbs last night. At least one arrest was made, but the violence seen on Monday night was not repeated. The situation remains extremely tense. Over the past three days, at least 37 people have been injured and 27 arrested, cars and shops have been vandalised, and gunshots fired in several locations. In one incident, shots were fired at a church as a primary school held a Christmas carol service. Extra police from Queensland and Victoria may soon be brought into Sydney, and summer leave for many NSW officers has been cancelled. In announcing the emergency recall of parliament yesterday, Iemma vowed to “take back the streets”. “These criminals have declared war on our society and we are not going to let them win,” he declared. “I won’t allow Sydney’s reputation as a tolerant, vibrant international city to be tarnished by these ratbags and criminals who want to engage in the sort of behaviour we’ve seen in the last 48 hours... This is a fight that will continue and we will not be found wanting in the use of force to meet this, what is effectively a declaration of war.” www.wsws.org/articles/2005/dec2005/cops-d14.shtml See Also: As Australian media covers up Howard’s role Racial violence continues in Sydney [13 December 2005] Government and media provocations spark racist violence on Sydney beaches [12 December 2005]

Note: www.wsws.org/articles/2...