Blood-splashing leads to second arrest

Press, 9 July 1981, Page 1

Blood-splashing leads to second arrest

Two anti-tour protesters were arrested for the second time in five hours yesterday after they splattered blood over furniture, walls, and a portrait of the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon), at the National Party's Christchurch offices. The two men and another two members of Action Against the Tour were arrested late yesterday morning after they burnt New Zealand and South African flags while chained for 45 minutes to first-floor scaffolding outside the Manchester Street offices of the Canterbury Rugby Union.

The four men had also tipped containers of blood, which they said had been given by members of the protest group, over the floor and walls inside the office and painted the word “guilty" in blood on the outside of the building.

The four protesters appeared in the District Court yesterday afternoon and entered no' plea to a charge of being unlawfully on the premises of the Canterbury Rugby Union. Two, Malcolm Twaddell and Robin Woodsford, were remanded on bail of $5OO under their own recognisance. They refused the bail bonds and were sent to Addington remand prison for sentence in three weeks. The others, Bob Consedine and Mike Gillooly, were remanded at large. At. 4 p.m., an hour after Consedine and Gillooly were released by Judge Frampton

until their sentencing in three weeks, they went into the Lichfield Street offices and did more blood-splashing and slogan-daubing.

The two men then stood on the pavement outside the building. reading their reasons for the protest to a small crowd of supporters, and onlookers who stayed on the other side of the road.

The police arrived about 10 minutes later, and after a quiet word with the protesters and the two men who were working in the party’s offices, they escorted the blood-spattered men to a police car.

The two men were later charged with wilful damage of the National Party’s premises, and will appear'in court today.

The National Party’s divisional secretary, Mr Graham Johnstone, and the Christchurch organiser, Mr R. S. Deans, went quickly into action with buckets and mops to clean off the brown, drying blood. “They were very polite," said Gillooly, who was responsible for the blood inside the office itself. “I walked into the office, introduced myself and gave them a statement saying why we were doing this. He was a bit upset though when I poured the blood on the desk and Mr Muldoon’s picture.’’ . One of the protest group’s spokesmen, Mr Stuart McHugh, said that the two men had decided to increase the protest action after they were remanded at large that afternoon.

“They choose the National Party building because of the complicity between the Government and the Rugby Union who are still allowing the tour to proceed in spite of overwhelming public opinion,” said Mr McHugh. Another spokesman at the scene, Mr Des Casey, said that the group hoped that this action would encourage other protest groups to consider civil disobedience as an old and tried protest egy“A lot of people now realise that everything has been done in terms of talking, petition, marches, rallies, and putting a reasonable case before the people. A lot of people are angry at what they see as Mr Muldoon’s abrogation of his right to govern after Monday evening,' 1 said Mr Casey. Whereas only a handful of policemen were sent to the second protest, yesterday morning’s effort had the police out in force — at least 25 uniformed men and women, several Ministry of Transport officers, and a few plainclothes policemen.

About 10.40 a.m. one protester climbed the stairs to

the union’s office and poured a jar of human blood over files, walls, windows, and the floor of the room.

To the cheers of the group of 20 supporters, the four men then climbed on to the scaffolding outside the building and chained themselves to it.

By this stage police and Ministry of Transport cars had cordoned Manchester Street between Worcester Street and Hereford Street.

At intervals during the 45minute “chain-in,” the four men read a statement of their reasons for this particular form of protest. "Today we spill our own blood on the property of the Rugby Union, our own blood, sacred to our very lives, symbolising the cost in human terms of the way of death called apartheid,” they said.

Mr Casey said at the scene that the two flags were burnt together to show that both countries were equally pathetic in terms of their actions against apartheid.

“We are trying to bring home to New Zealanders just what apartheid means and what our complicity with apartheid means through the Springbok tour,” said Mr Casey.

After standing in a formidable phalanx at one end of the block, five of the policemen descended the stairs and climbed out a first-floor window on to the scaffolding.

Bolt cutters were used to remove the protesters’ chains. Each protester raised his clenched fist as the chain came free, and police quietly escorted each man down a fire escape into a waiting paddy waggon. The union’s secretary, Mr D. J. Cunningham, said' later that a man came into his office, while another protester stood outside the door, and threw what he said was a jar of blood round the office.

A fortnight ago, the same group of protesters chained themselves inside the union’s offices and locked the staff outside.

Mr Cunningham, who, served overseas during World War 11, said that he was very upset when he saw the New Zealand flag being burnt. He said that he was also not happy with the repeated disruption of < his office by tour protesters. “I don’t mind them protesting, but there are plenty of other places they could go, such as parks or squares. I cannot see how vandalising this office is going to get people on their side,” he said. The scaffolding, which provided the protesters with a convenient platform, will be dismantled this afternoon.