By Debra Wirth
SYDNEY - About 100 people protested outside the Supreme Court on
May 8, the day Arthur Murray and Sonny Bates were sentenced to 18
months' imprisonment by the trial judge in Bathurst after being
convicted by an all-white jury.
Three other members of the ``Brewarrina 17'', convicted on
riotous assembly charges, were given community service sentences.
Two others pleaded guilty to unlawful assembly; one was sentenced
to six months' imprisonment and one placed on a good behaviour
bond. Sentencing of Anna Murray, Arthur Murray's daughter, on a
common assault charge was deferred.
All of the charges stemmed from a fight between Aborigines and
police in Brewarrina on August 15, 1987.
The clash occurred during a wake for Lloyd Boney, an Aboriginal
who had died in the Brewarrina lock-up nine days earlier. Boney
was Sonny Bates' brother-in-law. Arthur Murray's son Eddie died
in the Wee Waa police lock-up under very suspicious circumstances
in 1981.
The trouble began when whites with shotguns gathered at the local
pub and fired at least two shots at the mourners. When Aborigines
responded by throwing bottles at the hotel, they were attacked by
the police Tactical Response Group.
Two of the police who were on duty the night Boney died were also
involved in the August 15 events. These same police, who gave
evidence at the recent trials, were found to have lied under oath
while giving evidence to the hearing on Boney's death conducted
by the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.
Anna Murray told the May 8 protest that there was no justice for
Aboriginal people in this country and that her father and the
others had been framed.
Georgina Abrahams from the Campaign Exposing the Frame-Up of Tim
Anderson outlined parallels between this case and that of
Anderson. Both men are well-known political activists. Murray has
campaigned for the rights of Aboriginal people since the 1960s,
when he was an organiser for the predominantly Aboriginal cotton
workers in north-western NSW. Neither was afraid to speak out
about what they saw as police corruption, the fabrication of
evidence and racism in the police force and the law. For these
reasons, Abrahams said, they were targeted for harassment and
ultimately sent to jail to keep them quiet.
The main police witnesses in the Brewarrina 17 case admitted to
being prejudiced against Aboriginal people. Sandra Murray, from
the Deaths in Custody Watch Committee, told Green Left that there
never should have been a trial in the first place because this
case was another example of police racism and harassment of
Aboriginal people.
To help with the campaign against the frame-up of the Brewarrina
17, contact the Deaths in Custody Watch Committee on (02) 281
7604.
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Reprinted from Green Left, weekly progressive newspaper. May
be reproduced with acknowledgment but without charge by
movement publications and organisations.