A-Infos (en) Australia, Sydney, anarchist collective and zine Mutiny #32 - Lex's in Pris'n, Hurley's Gone Fishin' - Free Lex by Princess Mob

Palm Island man Lex Wotton was sentenced to six years jail after being found 
guilty of `rioting with destruction' by an all-white jury in a Queensland court. 
In 2004, Mulrinji Doomadgee, a 36-year-old Aboriginal man, was arrested for 
public nuisance by Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley. Within an hour Mulrinji was 
dead in a cell in the Palm Island police station with four broken ribs, a 
ruptured spleen and a liver almost torn in two. Another prisoner, Patrick 
Bramwell, told a public meeting on the island that he had seen Hurley beating 
Mulrinji. ---- A week after Mulrinji was killed, island residents heard that an 
autopsy had found that his death was the result of an accidental fall.

They reacted by burning down the police station, court house and police residences.
The crimes against property that were carried out in protest at Mulrinji's
death were punished far more severely than the violence that killed him. The
investigation into Mulrinji's death was carried out by Detective Sergeant Darren
Robinson, a colleague and good friend of Hurley's, who had previously carried 
out insufficient `investigations' after Hurley had injured an Aboriginal woman. 
In the case of Doomadgee, Hurley was found not guilty of manslaughter by an 
all-white jury. He was suspended on full pay while he was awaiting trial, had 
his legal bills paid for by the Queensland Police Union, and has since received 
a promotion to the Gold Coast and $100 000 compensation for property he 
allegedly lost when his house was burnt down. Early in the week that Lex was 
sentenced, the police whose negligence sparked the riot all received bravery awards.
Lex was given a non-parole period of two years ­ taking into account time 
served, he will be eligible for parole by July 2010. According to ABC News, 
Lex's family have said that they will not be appealing his sentence, because 
they were relieved that he didn't receive the harsher sentence that many had 
expected. The prosecution has asked that Lex be sent to jail for ten years, and 
the offence carry a maximum life sentence. However, the Attorney-General has 
announced that the prosecution will not appeal the sentence.

Solidarity actions were held around the world on the day of the
sentencing and the week before. In Sydney, a speaker from the
Maritime Union of Australia announced that the Sydney waterfront
had shut down for a minute's silence in solidarity. A number of
local Aboriginal activists spoke about the significance of Lex's trial
and the ongoing struggle for justice for Aboriginal people.
It is important to remember that Chris Hurley was the first cop who has ever 
faced trial over an Aboriginal death in custody, even though over 200 Aboriginal 
people have died (or been killed) in custody since the 1990s. It was the actions 
of the Palm Island community, who showed they would not accept the injustice of 
a typical cover-up that forced this small step to be taken towards actually 
punishing police who kill.
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