Responding to the news that the Tasmanian State Government’s proposed legislation to restrict the right to protest peacefully has been defeated, Amnesty International Australia campaigner, Nikita White, said:
“This is good news for human rights and for Tasmanians. The Bill, under which protesters could have faced up to 21 years in prison, would have unnecessarily restricted Tasmanian’s rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression.
“No government should unduly restrict people’s right to peaceful protest with laws that impose harsher penalties on protesters than on those not involved in protest.
“Amnesty calls on all states and territories to take note of this important win in Tasmania, and take it as a warning: the only changes to protest laws should be those that make it easier and freer to peacefully protest anywhere in Australia.”
When courageous people protest, they make the world a better place. We must protect the right to protest wherever it is restricted and whenever it is at risk.
For Write for Rights 2022, we are taking action for brave individuals from 10 different countries, who have all paid a great price for speaking truth to power. We run Write for Rights every year because it works – real change happens when ordinary people come together to take action.
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