NZ

Criminal defence lawyer arrested at Middle East protest claims police misused power

Poppy Clark20:07, Nov 27 2023

Criminal defence lawyer Lucy Rogers captured the moment she was arrested at the Middle East protest march in Auckland on Saturday.

A criminal defence lawyer claims police misused their power when charging her with breaching the peace at a Middle East protest in Auckland - but police say they feared her actions would incite violence.

Lucy Rogers was leaving a work meeting on Saturday, where she is currently representing someone in a four-week jury trial, when she noticed people walking along Queen Street in protest.

Walking into a nearby shop, Rogers purchased an A2 piece of paper and wrote “selective condemnation of genocide is evil” on it before standing on the footpath as protestors took to the road.

Speaking to Stuff on Monday, Rogers said she is “not a pro-Israel protestor”.

“I think that both sides are doing appalling things here.”

Rogers said she held the sign above her head, but did not say anything.

“I was silent and peaceful, and several metres away from [protestors].”

Rogers alleges police officers at the event approached her, removed the sign from her hands before ripping it up. She then began recording on her phone.

She openly filmed the police officer's identification badges as she continued to question why they had removed her sign in the first place, and can be heard asking a police officer: “What are you going to do, tell me I can’t stand on the footpath? Where does it say that in the law?”.

“No, because [the protesters are] going to get upset and it’s going to cause a riot, so we’re just going to stand here,” the officer responded.

When Rogers shifted from her spot, police escorted her to the side of the street before handcuffing and arresting her for “breach of the peace”.

Acting Superintendent Jacqui Whittaker said police were “required to engage with a female whose behaviour gave rise for concern”.

“Her attempts to antagonise people rallying along Queen Street was deemed to meet a threshold where a serious disturbance or violence between parties could eventuate,” she said.

Criminal defence lawyer Lucy Rogers was arrested on Saturday at the Middle East protest in Auckland.

“Police applied a graduated response to dealing with the situation, which saw the female arrested for breach of the peace.”

Whittaker notes Rogers “was subsequently released and received a warning a short time later, once the safety risk to all parties had been mitigated.”

Rogers said the police let her go when they realised she was not causing harm and would not be staying at the protest.

“What this suggests in my view is that they have misused laws against breach of the peace, resisting police and perhaps other such laws again and again and again.”

Rogers told Stuff she did not receive a warning from the police and after going to her doctors on Monday, had been diagnosed with a slight sprain to her shoulder.