See you in Canberra... Thanks to Irish Bentley Lawyers & UMCQ - Top 5 fallacies about Queensland’s ‘anti-bikie’ laws One of the problems with the “anti-bikie” laws is that they are so confusing. In fact, even police and the Attorney-General have demonstrated confusion about the following: 1. It’s illegal to wear club colours in Queensland.FALSE: The laws forbid wearing of colours in licenced premises. But that has not stopped club members including Rebels member Angelo Garozzo being arrested because police misinterpreted the laws. In early March 2014, he filmed his “stop-and-search”1 and his arrest2, during which the police officer audibly told him that wearing club colours is illegal. 2. You have to be a member of a declared club to be arrested.FALSE: Various laws, including the ban on public gatherings of three or more, apply to “participants”. The law defines a participant as anyone who attends “more than 1 meeting or gathering”3. There is no requirement that the involvement was criminal. Therefore, thousands of motorcyclists who attend Hells Angels poker runs, for example, are “participants” under the definitions in the law. 3. You don’t have anything to fear if you’re not a criminal.FALSE: Librarian, mum-of-three, and community service award holder Sally Kuether is accused of going to licenced premises with her fiancé (a club member) and his friend (also a club member). She is now on bail and awaiting sentencing for her “crime”, which attracts a mandatory 6-month sentence under the law. Until now, Sally has never been accused of any crime. 4. You have to be a member of a declared organisation to be subject to the VLAD Act.FALSE: Even Qld Attorney General Jarrod Bleijie got this one wrong on Facebook4 on 11 December, when he said that you needed to be a member of criminal organisation, and that 26 such organisations were currently declared. In fact, the legislation states that any group of three people can be a criminal organisation for the purposes of the VLAD Act. 5. More than 600 motorcycle club members and associates have been arrested.The number of people who have been charged under the “anti-bikie” laws actually represents less than 0.05 per cent of the total number that police claim – a number which also includes non- member and unproven “participants” for whom the police have provided no substantiation of motorcycle club involvement.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 20:42:45 +0000
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