Epoch Times: Downer Compromises over Freedom of Speech

Epoch Times Australia staff

Apr 04, 2006

File photo of Mr. Bernard Collaery, lawyer for the two Falun Gong practitioners, addressing a press conference outside the ACT Supreme Court in 2005.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has compromised in his bid to place restrictions on peaceful protests by Falun Gong practitioners outside the Chinese Embassy in Canberra.

Outside the ACT Supreme Court on Monday April 3 the lawyer representing the two plaintiffs, former ACT Attorney-General Mr. Bernard Collaery, said he received correspondence from Mr. Downer saying that he had ceased issuing the certificates restricting the protests, at least in their original format.

"This is a remarkable win for freedom of speech. It is clear the Foreign Minister can no longer issue certificates without facing serious court proceedings," said Mr. Collaery.

Falun Gong is a peaceful practice that includes exercise and meditation.

Since 1999 it has been the target of a brutal persecution by the Communist regime in China. In response, Australian Falun Gong practitioners have held continuous protests outside the Chinese Embassy in Canberra.

The monthly certificates were first issued by Mr. Downer when Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan visited Canberra in March 2002. The certificates restricted the use of large banners, amplified sound and signage on vehicles.

In June 2005 a lawsuit was filed in the ACT Supreme Court by two Australian Chinese, Ms Zhang Cuiying and Ms Jane Dai, against the Foreign Minister, alleging that the certificates have unfairly and unlawfully limited their freedom of expression.

Although the need for litigation has ended and the case dropped for the time being, there are concerns that Mr. Downer may re-issue certificates again in the future - in a more legally defensible form.

Mr. Downer has accused Falun Gong practitioners of using amplified sound, banging of drums 24-hours a day outside the Chinese Embassy that disrupted the functioning of the Embassy, as well as displaying banners that he said impaired the dignity of the mission.

The plaintiffs, both whom were victims of the persecution in China, refute these claims and said in a written statement: "The practitioners played a recorded message during the middle of the day, only when Chinese tourist buses arrived, and then the message was switched off as soon as the buses left."

The Australian Federal Police investigated the Chinese Embassy's allegations of excessive noise from the protesters, but found such claims unsubstantiated.

Mr. Collaery believes the Foreign Minister stopped issuing certificates because he would not have been able to defend them in court. At previous hearings Mr. Downer was asked to present defense affidavits, but failed to do so.

The plaintiffs said they are not against Mr. Downer or the Federal Government. They are "using every legal and peaceful avenue that is open to Australians to expose the genocide that has been happening for nearly seven years in China".

Last month, the president of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission, Mr. John Von Doussa QC, filed against Mr. Downer in a complaint lodged by Falun Gong practitioners, who were unfairly excluded from participating in the human rights talks between the Australian Government and non-government organizations.

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