Police have once again used dangerous methods of dealing with protester's late this afternoon when they used a large model excavator to dig a woman out of a tunnel under the road. Police removed all protesters from the legal view point on Gordon River rd, so no filming of the tunnel excavation could take place. The arrested woman from Hobart is being held in remand in the city tonight, along with the Hobart man arrested earlier this morning.
"The use such a large machine to removed the peaceful protester from a tunnel under the road is clearly dangerous and irresponsible. By removing witnesses from the legal view point on Gordon River Rd, the police are making it clear that their removal operation is dangerous and off limits to public scrutiny." Said spokesperson Ed Hill.
"This comes after a series of dangerous and irresponsible actions by police in the Upper Florentine when dealing with conservationists. Last week they cut a fuel line to a car blocking the road causing a seriously worrying fire, and this week they are using heavy machinery over the head of a peaceful protester."
"Holding peaceful protesters overnight on remand is uneccesary and heavy handed. These people are not murderers or bank robbers, they are peaceful conservationists who are concerned about how we are contributing to a worsening environment. In the future these people may be regarded as heros whose calls we should've listened to long ago. The peaceful protesters in the Upper Florentine care about Tasmania's environment and community and contribute to it in so many ways, yet the Tasmanian Police insist on treating them like hardened criminals by enforcing over the top remand conditions." Said Mr Hill.
Protest activity is ecxpected to escalate throughout the week.
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