The Cronulla riots in Sydney, Australia in December 2005 have been described as anti-Arab racism by community leaders.[20] NSW Premier Morris Iemma said the violence revealed the ugly face of racism in this country.[21] A 2004 report by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission said that more than two-thirds of Muslim and Arab Australians say they have experienced racism or racial vilification since the September 11 attacks and that 90% of female respondents experienced racial abuse or violence.[22] Adam Houda, a Lebanese Muslim lawyer, has been repeatedly harassed by the New South Wales police force.[23][24][25][26][27] Houda has been arrested or detained six times in 11 years and has sued the police force for malicious prosecution and harassment three times. Houda claims that the polices motivation is racism which he says is alive and well in Bankstown. He has been stopped going to prayers, with relatives and friends and has been subjected to a humiliating body search. He has been the object of several groundless accusations of robbery or holding a knife. A senior lawyer told the Sydney Morning Herald that the police harassment was due to the police enmity against Houdas clients and the Australian Arab community.[28] He was first falsely arrested in 2000 for which he was awarded $145,000 damages by a judge who described his persecution as shocking. Constable Lance Stebbing was found to have maliciously arrested Houda, as well as using profanities against him and approaching him in a menacing manner. Stebbing was supported by other police, against the testimony of many eyewitnesses.[29] In 2005, Houda accused the police of disabling his mobile phone making it difficult to perform his work as a criminal defense lawyer.[30] In 2010, Houda, his lawyer Chris Murphy, and Channel Seven journalist Adam Walters claimed that Frank Menilli, a senior New South Wales police officer, behaved in a corrupt fashion by trying to alter Channel Sevens coverage of the Houda Case by promising the Walters inside information in exchange for presenting the case in the polices favour. Walters regarded the offer as an attempted bribe.[29][31] The latest incident occurred in 2011, when Houda was arrested for refusing a frisk search and resisting arrest after having been approached by police suspecting him of involvement in a recent robbery. These charges were thrown out of court by Judge John Connell who stated At the end of the day, here were three men of Middle Eastern appearance walking along a suburban street, for all the police knew, minding their own business at an unexceptional time of day, in unexceptional clothing, except two of the men had hooded jumpers. The place they were in could not have raised a reasonable suspicion they were involved in the robberies[28] Houda is currently suing the six police officers involved for false imprisonment, unlawful arrest, assault and battery and defamation. One of the six is an assistant commissioner. He is seeking $5 million in damages.[32][33] en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Arabism
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 22:32:02 +0000
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