A judge has ruled that pasting a piece of paper on a controversial former governor’s statue is not protected by freedom of political communication, but dismissed all charges against activist Stephen Langford. What’s the scam?
The scam is how a very simple act of protest, which harmed nobody and damaged nothing, led to seven charges being laid and police and court resources wasted.
In June 2020, Langford was arrested and denied bail, strip-searched and held in custody for 20 hours. He was subsequently found not guilty of malicious damage. He was arrested for a similar deed in 2023, which led to today’s NSW District Court hearing in front of Judge Christine Mendes. Langford’s legal team had appealed an earlier conviction on the basis of an implied right of freedom of political communication.
The Judge ruled, “free political communication did not deny lawmakers the right to sanction trespassers in order to protect public property.” Judge Mendes did, however, accept that
his rights had been burdened by the law and acknowledged his stance as ‘commendable’.
“For many citizens, Mr Langford’s interest in raising public awareness about the legacy of Australia’s colonial history and the absence of First Nations perspectives of history in the public domain is highly commendable,” Judge Mendes said, while dismissing all the charges against Langford.
Lilli Barto, a Langford supporter, said outside court, “The state would rather expend months worth of police resources and court resources prosecuting a man over a glue stick and a bit of paper … than to just change the plaque on the statue and actually acknowledge the violence.”
Climate protests to continue despite 170 charged in Newcastle ‘protestival’
