Police accused of overreach after ‘From the river to the sea’ arrests | Queensland’s ‘from th…

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Police accused of overreach after 'From the river to the sea' arrests

Queensland Police yesterday arrested two protesters for using the phrase, "From the river to the sea" — one on a singlet —  which is banned in some circumstances under the state's new hate speech laws.

The pro-Palestinian protest group that organised the rally has accused Queensland Police of targeting the rally to make arrests. Police say their presence is "standard at any protest".

One of the protesters will face court next month. It's expected to be the first time the laws are tested in Queensland.

A pro-Palestinian student group is accusing Queensland police of targeting a demonstration for the "express purpose" of using the state's new hate speech laws to make arrests.

Queensland’s ‘from the river to the sea’ laws likened to Bjelke-Petersen era anti-protest regime

Health minister Tim Nicholls corrects claim alleged Bondi terror attack gunman Naveed Akram used controversial phrase, as laws roundly criticised

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Police arresting pro-Palestinian protesters for using the phrase “from the river to the sea” had “all the hallmarks of an authoritarian police state”, according to a Greens MP, amid widespread backlash against Queensland’s new hate speech laws.

The controversial laws went into effect yesterday after passing a vote in parliament last week.

They ban the slogans “from the river to the sea” and “globalise the intifada”, and make expressing or publishing them punishable for up to two years in prison if doing so would “menace, harass or offend”.

Two protesters the first to be arrested over banned phrases

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Two people have been arrested at a protest outside Parliament House just hours after Queensland’s new hate speech laws came into effect.

Shortly after 12.30pm on Wednesday, officers arrested a 33-year-old man at Speakers’ Corner for allegedly uttering a banned phrase during what police confirmed was an unauthorised pro-Palestine protest.

Footage from the scene shows the man – understood to be a pro-Palestinian activist addressing the crowd ahead of a march – being arrested as the group begins to move.

Officers later arrested an 18-year-old woman, Bonnie Carter, at King George Square for allegedly wearing a shirt displaying a banned phrase.

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