The Wire

The actions of ACT police came under fire today after a group of officers entered the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra overnight to arrest a man in his late 50s, who said he had been too ill to appear in the Supreme Court. Kevin Buzzacott has this week faced hearings in the Supreme Court for taking the Coat of Arms from Old Parliament House three years ago during a protest. Gulf of Carpentaria elder Wajula Binna says poeple at the tent embassy were distressed because police came after dark, armed with batons and guns in their holsters, to make the arrest. While Mooka elder Neville Williams doubts the court’s jurisdiction to try Mr Buzzacott. He accuses police of restricting freedom of religion by taking Mr Buzzacott away during a ceremony for his healing.