Sunday, September 2 from 9am-11am
FORTRESS SYDNEY
With the exception of war, the security arrangements for the APEC conference are the biggest ever mounted in Australia. Sydney is being turned into a fortress.
The police are preparing for violence on the city’s streets. They have been handed controversial legislation, specifically for APEC, which many see as an erosion of civil liberties.
This week SUNDAY speaks to both sides of the APEC divide, the police and the protestors, as they accuse each other of planning for violence.
Andrew Scipione, who takes over as NSW Police Commissioner and as commander of the APEC police operation this Saturday, explains to SUNDAY why he feels the need to lock down the city and to arm police with extraordinary powers over the next 14 days.
“Certainly intelligence and the advice I’m receiving to date would indicate that we will have some serious violence and that’s unfortunate, we have to prepare for the worst case scenario and accordingly we’re getting ready for some significant violence in and around the period of the 7th, 8th and 9th of September,” he says.
As one of the organisers of the planned protests against APEC, Pip Hinman, defends her democratic right to demonstrate.
“You have to ask the question: what’s wrong with the democracy in this country, that’s going to prohibit people from taking to the streets in line with their consciences to make a political point? We see this as an opportunity to protest against what we see as the world’s biggest war criminal, in fact the world’s biggest terrorist George Bush. In our opinion he and John Howard represent some of the worst war criminals this century,” she says.
The concern for Andrew Scipione is that APEC summits and other economic and political forums do not have a peaceful history.
“When it comes to protest that’s one of the things we hold dearly here in Australia, you’ve got that freedom to express yourself. But when you go from being a peaceful protestor to a violent protestor to a protestor that wants to be involved in injuring police or damaging property or acting dangerously, then you almost forfeit your civil liberties in that regard,” he says.
Obviously the aim is to protect world leaders by suppressing violent protests, however the increased police powers and erosion of civil rights has incensed activists - their anger potentially becoming a greater catalyst for violence.
