At mid-day today Wellington political activists and Workers Party members Heleyni Pratley and Joel Cosgrove were arrested when they attempted to deliver a petition to the administration of Victoria University. The petition, signed by 50 academics, union officials and educationalists, called for the lifting of a two-year trespass order the university administration had imposed on them for being involved in a protest against fee increases several weeks ago.
Rather than allow them to present the petition, the university authorities placed the administration building under lockdown, put security personnel out front and called the police, who arrived in force with long batons and arrested Pratley and Cosgrove.
The two activists have been released on bail but the conditions include not only not stepping foot on Victoria University property but also not associating with each other, despite the fact that they are in a relationship and have been for four years.
“Will the police be raiding us in the middle of the night to see if we are still sleeping together?” asked Pratley. “The behaviour of vice-chancellor Pat Walsh and chancellor Tim Beaglehole call into question how fit they are to run a university. I’ve already had men sent by them try to force their way into my home and then announce I was trespassed from the university because I succeeded in keeping them out,” says Pratley. “Walsh and Beaglehole seem to think they’re running a personal feudal fiefdom rather than a public institution which is supposed to champion critical thinking and freedom of expression.”
“We’ll be stepping up the campaign against the completely over-the-top actions of the administration at Victoria; we’re calling on students, trade unionists, civil libertarians and all supporters of free speech and freedom of association to join us in demanding the charges be dropped and the trespass order be revoked,” Cosgrove concluded.
I’ve been out of the loop for the past few weeks so I missed this latest development. Whilst I did (and still do) vehemently disagree with the means by which the anti-fee rise protest was waged, I cannot find any rational reason for why Joel and Heleyni were banned from seeing each other. I still maintain that law-breaking and bullying should be punished (whilst accepting that Heleyni had nothing to do with either); however, the scope of the punishment that has been laid down is immensely disproportionate to the act.
Having just got married, the thought of being separated from my partner for any reason sends a shiver down my spine. Joel and Heleyni, you have my best wishes and my support.
Cheers, Matt.
Thanks for the solidarity Matt. I think your politics are fairly crap, but I respect the fact that your genuinely and honestly follow them. You’re the kind of bourgeois liberal it’s actually possible to have some amount of respect for, unlike the kind who only support freedom of speech when it suits them and condemn repression in one place while endorsing it in another. Consistency is a wonderful thing.
And while it seems my percieved “Mao cheerleading” or whatever it was is a bit offputting to you, I hope you can take these comments in the spirit they were offered.
Cheers :-)
Oh and the courts have allowed Heleyni and Joel to see each other again. Just so everyone knows.
Thanks Alastair – and great news about Joel and Heleyni.
I agree that consistency is a wonderful thing, and it is something I try to aim for. Hence why everything I write on the internet – be it here, on the Salient boards, or anywhere else – I sign with “Matthew_Cunningham”. That way, any inconsistencies (and there are undoubtedly some) can be rightfully pinpointed by anyone and brought to my attention.
The “Mao cheerleading” that I came across was somewhere on the RevLeft site, the link for which I cannot currently find. I pointed it out only in the context of my argument against violence and / or intimidation in political debate, so I apologise if it came across as petty. Adulation being the first step toward subjugation and all that. But i’ve read some of your articles and seen some videos of your protest speeches so I know you’re far more rational and articulate than that.
Cheers, Matt.
Oh, one other thing Alastair – what’s your definition of ‘bourgeois liberal’? I’ve had discussions with a few WP members, both on this site and in person, about labels such as this along with others like ‘capitalists’/'the bosses’, and they seem a little broad and/or undefined. I might pop along to one of your study groups sometime soon, I think it would make for a productive session.
Cheers, Matt.