Victoria police defend force used during terrorist raids despite claims of injury
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Version 0 of 1. Victoria police have defended their use of force during weekend raids in Melbourne after one teenager said he was kicked in the face by police, another said his arm was broken, and allegations emerged of racial abuse. The secretary of the Islamic Council of Victoria, Kuranda Seyit, told Guardian Australia the pre-dawn raids by 200 police were “clearly over the top”. The acting chief commissioner of Victoria police, Tim Cartwright, said an investigation would be held into the allegations of derogatory language and excessive force during the raids, which police said were necessary to thwart a terrorist plot planned for Anzac Day commemorations. Five men were arrested. “We will be meeting with each of the families today to talk to them about what they have seen and if they have any concerns,” Cartwright said on Monday. He said capsicum spray was used on at least one man and “there would routinely be force used in these arrests” to ensure people did not have weapons. Knives and a sword were confiscated. Earlier, Cartwright said the raids “were carried out in high-risk situations, 3.30 in the morning. We believe at least some of these people will be armed and will have a strong motivation to hurt police. I’m not surprised there are some minor injuries as a result.” Sevdet Besim, 18, of Hallam, was charged with conspiring to commit a terrorist act and remains in custody. Another man, also 18, is being held under an interim preventative detention order (PDO), and cannot be named. PDOs are a controversial counter-terrorism measure under which a person can be held without charge for 14 days. It is the first time such an order has been used in Victoria. One man has been charged with weapons offences and released on bail, and two men have been interviewed and released without charge. All are aged 18 or 19. Eathan Cruse, a 19-year-old Indigenous man, has alleged police kicked him in the face when they burst into his house in Eumemmerring, in Melbourne. He said he suffered extensive bruising and spent six hours in hospital. His mother, Anja, told the Herald Sun that police “flogged him pretty bad because there was a pool of blood on the floor”. “There was no reason why they got treated like this ... My son wasn’t charged or anything. What was the reason? All that for questioning? It’s not on.” Cruse’s father, Glen, told Fairfax Media that police yelled, “Shut up, you Abo” during the altercation. Cruse gave a statement to police and was released without charge on Saturday afternoon. The father of the man being held under a PDO has also claimed that his son’s arm and ribs were broken during the raid. Haider and the five arrested men had attended the Al-Furqan centre in Springvale. On Monday, Junaid Thorne, a self-styled Islamic preacher who regularly speaks at the centre, voiced support for the five men, tweeting that the “young kids” were arrested “over mere speculation and the usual nonsense”. May Allah be with the young kids and their families who were arrested today in #MelbourneArrest over mere speculation and the usual nonsense Asked whether Al-Furqan should be shut down, Cartwright said police had concerns about the group, but “association doesn’t mean guilt … People do have a democratic right to come together and express their views.” Saturday’s raids were the latest in a series of counter-terrorism operations in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane designed to prevent Isis-inspired violence in Australia, which authorities say is a growing threat. Some Islamic leaders have said the new laws unfairly target Muslims and that the federal government has given mixed messages about tolerance. Seyit said he had “very serious concerns” about the raids. He questioned the need for “raids in the middle of the night when families are asleep and traumatising women and children, and using excessive force. These are the things we need to reconsider.” He questioned why the teenagers could not have been brought into the police station during daylight hours. “I understand national security is important, but we need to keep it in balance. I think 200 police officers in the middle of the night for very young men is a little bit over the top,” he told Guardian Australia. Cartwright said the interim PDO was due to expire on Tuesday and police were likely to apply for it to be extended in the supreme court if the man had not been charged. The orders are meant to be granted to preserve evidence relating to a planned terrorist attack, or to stop an imminent attack being carried out. |