MEDIA RELEASE
1.5.2009
Car on Fire, One Activist Arrested
10 police raided Camp Florentine yesterday. While attempting to remove a forest defender locked-onto a car cemented into the logging road the car actually caught on fire. Police made anattempt to put the fire out and the activist locked-off, was arrested by police and immediately taken to Bridgewater Police Station.
"Police need to explain how and why a car caught on fire while they were removing a peaceful forest defender. Protestors in the Upper Florentine have always remained peaceful and ensured the safety of all parties involved, we would expect the same of police," said Still Wild Still Threatened spokesperson, Ed Hill.
"The actions of police today at camp Florentine concern us greatly. Conservationists engaged in peaceful protest activity in defence of Tasmania's forests deserve to have their basic human rights and safety taken into consideration when they are being dealt with by police" said Mr Hill.
"We need an urgent resolution to the problems that Forestry Tasmania create by conducting roading and logging operations in highly contentious, irreplaceable old growth forests. We reiterate our calls for the State and Federal Governments to sit down with forest campaigners and key stakeholders and work out an intelligent solution to this decades-long dispute" said Mr Hill.
"The ancient forests of the Upper Florentine Valley are globally recognised as being of the highest conservation value. We urge Prime Minister Rudd and Premier Bartlett to heed the advice of the IUCN and the World Heritage Committee and ensure that these pristine forests receive the protection they deserve" said Mr Hill.
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