The NSW police watchdog will investigate the conduct of officers after violent clashes broke out during a protest in Sydney against the visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
It comes as NSW Police admitted orders were breached on Monday night when officers forcibly disrupted Muslim worshipers praying, and called for a public apology from police.
In a statement on Friday, the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) said it had received a significant number of complaints about police conduct and that it was in the “public interest” to investigate the police operation at City Hall on Monday evening.
“The committee will collect and review all available material, including video and telephone footage, documents, files and other information, including that of NSW Police,” the report said.
“The committee will hold hearings as part of the investigation process.
“At the conclusion of the investigation, the committee will issue a public report on the investigation to the NSW Parliament.”
Witness, NSW Police confirm orders were not followed
NSW Police have confirmed that Muslim worshipers who were roughly pulled off the ground while praying by police during the Sydney protest were told by their senior officer to wait until the prayer was completed.
In a statement to SBS News on Thursday, a NSW Police spokesperson said: “The senior officer was attempting to pass that message on to other officers conducting a transit response during a noisy, dynamic and rapidly changing situation.”
“However, some worshipers were moved before the senior officer’s message could be relayed.”
Social media footage of the incident shows Muslim worshipers being physically dragged and assaulted by officers as they prostrated themselves, sparking outrage among the Muslim community.
Ex-police officer and lawyer Mahmud Hawila, who is currently representing the Palestine Action Group in legal challenges against the state government, witnessed the orders being violated.
Hawila told SBS News that he saw a line of police officers on George Street moving towards the forecourt of the City Hall, the location where the prayer was held.
He said he had advised the top police officer, Chief Inspector David El-Badawi, to ensure officers waited until the prayers ended.
“I say to David, ‘David, these people are praying. They are defenseless. Give them a minute and let them finish their prayers, and then I will make sure they disperse,” he told SBS News.
Hawila said he heard the chief inspector tell the officers to hold back, they are almost done.
“But for some reason that’s puzzling, some officers… grab someone who is praying, pick him up and throw him into the concrete. He was on the ground and bent over when the officer picked him up and threw him,” he said.
Hawila described El-Badawi as a “hero” who was “horrified” and “on the verge of tears” after the incident.
“He is a hero in this story because he used common sense at a very dark time for Muslims in Australia,” he said.
“No order was given to leave the worshipers or anyone else in the square. There was no reason for us to think we were doing anything wrong. We were allowed to be in the square. We prayed peacefully and the police attacked us for no reason and without warning.”
Hawila said he received assurances from NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon that evening that a public apology would be made to the Muslim community.
SBS News understands that a separate figure within the Islamic community has also received the same assurance from Lanyon.
However, Lanyon only issued personal apologies to some figures, including those from the Australian National Imams Council and the imam who led the prayer, Wesam Charkawi.
Charkawi confirmed to SBS News that he would not accept the apology unless it was made public.
The Lebanese Muslim Association (LMA) told SBS News that they have not received an apology and believe that personal apologies are insufficient for the harm suffered by Australian Muslims.
Anything less than a public apology from the NSW police commissioner and premier and an independent investigation would be “an insult to the Muslim community and a dangerous signal that attacking or disrupting public worship can now be done with impunity,” LMA’s Gamel Kheir said in a statement.
Lanyon did not respond to questions from SBS News about whether a public apology had been promised, but he said the course was not aimed at any religion.
“I have apologized for any offense committed for disrupting that religious process,” he said in a statement.
NSW Premier Chris Minns has refused to apologize to the Muslim community and says he does not support an independent investigation, defending the actions of police in what he described as “in the middle of a riot”.
“I want to make it clear that I am not going to condemn the police for doing what we ask of them to protect the safety of the public,” Minns said during question time on Thursday.
The Islamophobia Register said it had received evidence that Muslim women were among the first worshipers targeted by police on Monday evening.
“For communities that already face disproportionate levels of hostility and fear, the lack of accountability increases harm and reinforces a pattern that the Register has documented for years: that Islamophobic harm is minimized, ignored and without consequence,” the organization said in a statement.
Hawila has also called on Sydney Mayor Clover Moore, who has backed an independent investigation, to release City Hall CCTV footage that could capture the moment police disrupted prayers.
SBS News has contacted the City of Sydney Council for comment.
Protest organizers welcome research
Palestine Action Group (PAG), which organized Monday’s meeting, welcomed the LECC’s initiative to investigate police actions.
“The police operation had all the hallmarks of a police riot, targeting peaceful protesters opposing President Isaac Herzog’s visit,” PAG organizer Amal Naser said in a statement on Friday.
“Under the Minns Labor government, civil liberties in New South Wales have been steadily eroded. Monday’s events marked a dangerous escalation, with people, young and old, being subjected to violence as they exercised their democratic right to protest.
“We have already seen reports of elderly women being seriously injured, worshipers allegedly attacked after being allowed to pray, and minors arrested during a peaceful demonstration.”
The PAG also called on Minns, Police Minister Yasmin Catley and Lanyon to “take responsibility and resign” for authorizing the operation.
Videos posted on social media appeared to show police officers pinning down and repeatedly beating protesters, violently dispersing people kneeling in prayer, beating civilians lying on the ground and assaulting and pepper-spraying protesters.
Police said scuffles broke out, with 27 people arrested and taken to police stations across Sydney, while NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Peter McKenna said police actions were “justified” and he was “very proud” of their conduct.
Asked whether he condemned the police actions, Minns said Tuesday he refused to “throw the police under the bus” because they had been placed in an “impossible situation.”
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