05.02 pm, Thursday May 24 2012

Occupy Sydney protesters vow to stay put

23:01 AEDT Sat Nov 5 2011
By Chi Tranter and Isabel Hayes
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Occupy Sydney protesters are vowing to stay put after chaotic scenes which saw several protesters dragged away by police.

About 100 protesters had moved from an earlier rally at Martin Place on Saturday afternoon to Hyde Park to continue their protest against corporate greed.

Their protest was peaceful until police moved in to take down a tent set up by protesters.

Several people were dragged away by police as protesters chanted "Let them stay, let them stay" and called the police "nazis".

Three people have been arrested and all are expected to face charges.

Police said they expected to charge a 29-year-old man with resisting and hindering police and escaping lawful custody, while two others are to be charged with failing to comply with police and using offensive language.

Protesters said they were determined to stay in the park, maintaining they had a right to protest and were not doing anything illegal.

"We are standing together in the middle of Hyde Park and we are linking arms and hoping to stay here as long as possible," protester Ben Peterson told AAP on Saturday night.

"There has been a lot of police harassment and we have been told we will be moved on ... but there is absolutely no basis for any legal move-on."

A police spokesman said a heavy police presence would remain to monitor the situation.

"Police will continue to monitor throughout the evening," a police spokeswoman told AAP on Saturday night.

"I don't know how long they are going to be there but obviously police will do whatever they need to do."

The Occupy Sydney activists, part of a worldwide protest against corporate excess, had earlier vowed to reoccupy Martin Place indefinitely, despite police assurances they would be removed at 4.30pm.

But they avoided immediate confrontation by moving to Hyde Park.

They had first gathered at Town Hall in the early afternoon, chanting, "99 per cent, 99 per cent, 99 per cent".

Maritime Union of Australia Sydney branch secretary Paul McAleer told the crowd they were part of "the most inspirational movement of working people in the history of humanity".

"It doesn't matter what country you live in or what union you belong to or what religion you are or what colour you are," he said to cheers.

"The 99 per cent says we are together and we are not going to be exploited or repressed any longer."

There was a significant police presence as the rally moved to Martin Place, with riot squad officers, mounted police and two police trucks on standby.

Mr Peterson said the police response was disappointing.

"We're very disappointed police have turned up with mobile holding cells, horses, riot squad just around the corner," he told AAP earlier on Saturday.

Last month, police were accused of using excessive force after 40 protesters were arrested in a dawn raid that ended the group's week-long protest in Martin Place.

Occupy Sydney has maintained there is no such thing as an illegal public assembly.

"The last thing Occupy is about is violent confrontations. It's about having a public discourse for as long as possible, involving as many people as possible," Mr Peterson told AAP earlier in the day.

A broad range of unions and activist groups was represented at the rally.

Members from the Northern Territory Intervention, the NSW Teachers Federation, the National Tertiary Education Union, Lock the Gate anti-CSG mining group and refugee support groups were all present.

"Who are we?" an Occupy Sydney spokeswoman asked the crowd during Saturday's rally.

"We are the workers, we are the indebted, we are the immigrants and the indigenous. We are homeless, we are the students, we are the unemployed, we are the under-represented people of the world. We are the 99 per cent. We are Occupy Sydney."

 

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