By Sally Thompson and Alex Bainbridge
MELBOURNE — In what has been described as "a great victory for civil rights", charges against the Austudy Five were dropped on September 1 after less than three hours in court and a two and a half year political defence campaign.
The five were activists arrested in dawn raids two weeks after a 3000-strong rally to defend Austudy grants in March 1992 in Melbourne. The main charges against them were unlawful assembly, illegal rescue (of people detained in a police van) and obstruction.
Police admitted at an earlier committal hearing that at least 1000 people could have been charged with the same offences. The political nature of the charges is highlighted by the fact that all five are members of one political group, the International Socialist Organisation. Consequently, civil liberties campaigner Tim Anderson described this case as "the most important political frame-up of the decade".
The five attribute their success to the political defence campaign. On the first day of the trial, the case was adjourned so that the judge could view contested video evidence. After viewing the video evidence, Judge Leslie Ross made it clear that the case was "not on" and directed the prosecution to plea bargain with the defence.
The defence agreed to plead guilty to the minor obstruction charge if all others were dropped. Even at the final court appearance, when the prosecution wanted a suspended sentence, the judge ordered that no conviction be recorded. According to David Glanz of the Austudy Five Defence Committee, it is no exaggeration to say that the prosecution case "collapsed within minutes".
One of the most successful actions of the campaign was the 400-500 strong rally at 9am outside the County Court on August 29, day one of the trial. Glanz points out that the rally, built around the slogan "Defend the Right to Demonstrate, Defend the Austudy Five", represented significantly greater numbers than those in attendance. The rally included representatives from trade union branches, four ALP parliamentarians and student unions from as far away as Adelaide.
The victory of the five comes at a time of mounting criticism of the Victorian police and their methods. Recent incidents include the raid on Tasty's — a lesbian and gay night club where hundreds of patrons were strip-searched in front of each other — seven fatal police shootings since 1988, dangerous neck holds at a demonstration in defence of old growth forests in February and the baton charge of protesters outside the Richmond Secondary College in December.
In the face of a strong defence campaign mounted by the five, the political fallout for police and the state government from the full exposure of a court case appears to have been too unpalatable.
Mick Armstrong of the Austudy Five says that the result is a victory for more than just the five. "Thousands of people supported us. People realised that it was a question of civil and democratic rights. This result is good news for environmentalists, good news for gays and lesbians, good news for protesters against privatisation ... In fact, this is a victory for us all."