Church leaders arrested for asylum prayer vigil at Tony Abbott's office
|
Version 0 of 1. A Catholic priest and several pastors have been arrested for staging a peaceful prayer vigil in Tony Abbott's electoral office in Sydney. The group entered the building in Manly on Monday morning and began praying for detained child asylum seekers and the prime minister's soul. They were hoping to secure a promise from Abbott to release the 1,023 children held in Australian-run immigration detention centres. The group occupied the reception area of the electorate office for about three hours before being arrested. Police led the protesters outside about 2pm but laid no charges. "Morally, it is up to people like myself as a church leader to take a stand on issues such as asylum seekers," said the Rev Brian Brown, the head of the Uniting Church in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. Brown was among those arrested, along with a Catholic priest, a Baptist pastor, a pastor from the Metropolitan Community Church and several supporters. A simultaneous sit-down protest was held at the electorate office in central Melbourne of the opposition leader, Bill Shorten. A Catholic priest and a nun were among the Melbourne group. They were told by police to leave Shorten's office by 5pm, but organisers suggested they would refuse that demand, possibly leading to further arrests. A Sydney protest spokesman, Justin Whelan, said staff at Abbott's office had been "polite and respectful" but asked the protesters to leave before calling police. Whelan was among five people arrested and charged with trespass after a similar sit-in protest in March at the electorate office in Cronulla of the immigration minister, Scott Morrison. A magistrate later dismissed the charges and noted the protesters were entirely peaceful, adding: "This was the other end of the scale to the Cronulla riots." |