NSW: Sydney Harbour Bridge twice targeted by Tibet protests

AAP General News (Australia)
04-23-2008
NSW: Sydney Harbour Bridge twice targeted by Tibet protests

By Vincent Morello and Kim Christian

SYDNEY, April 23 AAP - The Sydney Harbour Bridge has twice been targeted by protests
over human rights abuses in Tibet, with a message projected onto the bridge pylon and
another demonstration thwarted by police.

The Australia Tibet Council projected the words "Don't Torch Tibet" onto the north-west
pylon of the bridge overnight, ahead of the arrival of the Olympic flame in Canberra this
morning.

Police later foiled a second incident, arresting two novice protesters before they
could unfurl their banner from the harbour bridge walkway.

Up to 10 security guards and police restrained a man and a woman before they could
attach a six metre by 10 metre banner near the bridge's south-east pylon.

While the protesters' "Free Tibet" banner and attached Tibetan flag never saw the light
of day, it may not be the last protest from an impassioned Sydney resident.

Kerryn, a 30-year-old travel consultant, said she and a friend made their dash about
7.30am (AEST) this morning.

She asked that her surname be kept confidential to avoid any difficulty during future
visits to China.

"We managed to get part of it attached before security guards pounced on us, but unfortunately
they were too big and too many for us," Kerryn told AAP.

"They detained us and any attempts to get closer to the banner were stopped by physical means."

Kerryn said she was not attached to any protest group or organisation representing
human rights in Tibet and that this was her and her friend's first attempt at a protest.

"I've travelled through Tibet and I've seen first hand the fact that there's human
rights abuses still going on within the country," she said.

"I was stopped from talking to the Tibetan people in Lhasa for even the basic levels
of communication."

The two protesters were issued with infringement notices requiring them to pay $100.

Australia Tibet Council executive director Paul Bourke said his organisation's protest
had sent a clear call for China to remove Tibet from the Olympic torch relay route and
begin a process of constructive dialogue with the Dalai Lama.

"Carrying the Olympic torch up Mount Everest and through Lhasa and other Tibetan areas
has nothing to do with sport," Mr Bourke said.

"It will only deepen the current crisis, inciting further unrest inside Tibet and leading
to more arrests and suffering among the Tibetan people."

He said the torch relay's visit to Tibet was a blatant political manoeuvre by the Chinese
leadership to legitimise its control over the region.

A NSW police spokeswoman said no complaints and no arrests were made over the projection
of the protest message onto the harbour bridge.

AAP krc/vpm/wjf/hn/sp

KEYWORD: OLY08 FLAME BRIDGE NIGHTLEAD (PIX AVAILABLE)

2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.