Police Tell Victim Groups How to Protest, by Annabel Stafford, The Age, July 2, 2008

Police Tell Victim Groups How to Protest

By Annabel Stafford
The Age
July 2, 2008

http://www.theage.com.au/national/police-tell-victim-groups-how-to-protest-20080701-300j.html

VICTIMS of sex abuse in the Catholic Church have been read the riot act by NSW police officers who travelled to Melbourne yesterday to instruct them on how they should behave if they decide to protest at the World Youth Day in Sydney.

Approved apparel, but protest shirts may bring a fine.
Photo by Lee Besford

But one of the victim support groups contacted by police has told The Age it did not intend to protest during the festival.

A NSW police spokesman confirmed officers were seeking out potential protesters to warn them off behaviour that may offend or threaten World Youth Day attendees.

It was revealed this week that the NSW Government had snuck in laws that will allow police to arrest and fine people who are causing "annoyance or inconvenience" to World Youth Day attendees — something critics say could range from wearing protest T-shirts to handing out free condoms.

In an email to the victim support group Broken Rites, the NSW police offered to update the Melbourne-based group on "new legislation" in NSW relating to protests.

In the email, Detective Senior Constable John Karoubas of the World Youth Day investigation team told Broken Rites that police "are aware that other groups are trying to organise protest activities in Sydney and may be attempting to recruit members of your organisation to protest".

But, he said, police were "not attempting to stop people from lawfully protesting during World Youth Day activities".

The approach from NSW police comes as a slap in the face for sex-abuse victims who are still waiting to hear whether Pope Benedict XVI will apologise for sexual abuse by priests in the Catholic Church or meet victims when he visits for World Youth Day.

Yesterday Broken Rites wrote to 150 parishes across Melbourne asking them to offer their church as a vigil site for victims during the festival. President Chris MacIsaac slammed Australian bishops for being silent when it came to a papal apology.

"We would like to see some support (for victims)," she said. "If the bishops and Pope won't support them, then maybe the clergy will."

The letter tells parish priests that agreeing to a vigil in their church "would demonstrate that the old days of cover-up are over, at least in your parish".

"A negative response to the Broken Rites request would indicate that the days of cover-up are not yet over," it says.

Expectations of a papal apology have been raised since Pope Benedict XVI formally apologised to victims when he visited the United States in April.

Detective Superintendent Ken McKay of the World Youth Day investigation team said police were "proactively" looking at groups that might protest during World Youth Day and contacting them to try to find out what they planned.

But he said the meetings with the groups were not about trying to control protest activity.