When we disagree with something we have the right to express our objection. That is called " freedom of speech ". We also have the right to go beyond mere words. Some forms of civil disobedience are usually ignored by the police - or treated lightly if they go to court. But there are limits - and over this weekend those limits were breached at the World Rally Championship ( WRC ) at Murwillunbah.
Opponents of this car rally had a point when they claimed that the roads were unsuitable for cars at high speed, and that the route took drivers through sections of a national park, where native animals could be in danger.
Many people turned out to display signs objecting to the rally, and some cheeky girls lifted their skirts and displayed rude messages on their knickers, and all of that was both legal and reasonable.
What was not reasonable was the action of some protesters who threw rocks at the cars, put boulders on the roadway - and in some instances - cut fences to encourage livestock to stray onto the road.
This rally involved cars travelling at very high speeds and any of these actions could have caused a crash involving loss of life. The right to protest does not extend to attempted murder !
There seems to be a reluctance to lay such charges when perpetrators are caught. The police seem to prefer lesser charges such as " trespass " and in many cases the offenders are released with a warning.
The rights and wrongs of allowing these racing events on roads that are closed to the public may be a moot point - but attempting to stop them happening by guerrilla criminal activity is simply an extension of terrorism - and that is unacceptable for whatever reason !
No comments:
Post a Comment