Persistence pays off for protesters

THE DOMINION

POLICY FACE OFF: Police and students confront each other during a protest against education policies, in Parliament Grounds in September 1997. Forty-one of those arrested have won a settlement and two apologies.

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Forty-one former student protesters feel justified with a $200,000 out-of-court settlement for police abuses at a Parliament protest in 1997, with two apologies the icing on the cake.

They will receive written apologies from the police commissioner and the Speaker's office because the Speaker of the House at the time, Doug Kidd, trespassed the students who were protesting about the education policies of the National government.

The students had sued the Speaker and police for Bill of Rights breaches, including the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, before settling this week.

More than 300 students were part of the protests, with 75 arrested. All of those who defended the charges had them thrown out.

Protester Rosanna Olsen said she spent about 14 hours in jail waiting to be processed, witnessing assaults and insensitivity to women.

"There were women that were bleeding ... and they were completely ignored."

Fellow protester Graham Howell, who had been arrested for protesting five other times, said the peaceful protest "did not at all" warrant arrests.

"If I want to get arrested, I set about doing it. We didn't deserve [to be arrested]."

Protesters sat patiently while arrests were carried out, he said.

He said police treatment was intended to send a message.

"There were lots of young inexperienced people [protesting] and they were trying to scare the wits out of them so they didn't do anything again."

The day marked both Ms Olsen's first protest and arrest, but far from being turned off political engagement she said it had spurred her on.

"It was so obvious that what they were doing was wrong.

"I've had ongoing involvement in activism ... [The protest changed] the naivete of the people that were there that day."

The 1997 protesters were now involved with animal rights, trade unions, and Chris Hipkins, who was Victoria University student president, is now a Labour MP.

The group's lawyer for 12 years, Tony Ellis, said he had been in negotiations with Crown lawyers for years, but securing the two apologies had been the difference in settling.

"It's been a struggle to get them to apologise." None of the legal work had been funded by legal aid.

A spokesman for the Speaker's office said current Speaker Lockwood Smith would write the apology.

- © Fairfax NZ News