Danny Lim released from hospital, “violent” police response condemned

By ERIN MODARO

Danny Lim has been released from hospital this morning after suffering from a fractured skull, when police attempted to arrest him in the QVB. The iconic protestor was thrown to the ground while police attempted to remove him from the shopping complex.

Greens Senator David Shoebridge announced in a facebook post that 78-year-old Lim has been discharged from St Vincents hospital.

Now questions over the unnecessary force employed by NSW police against the peaceful protestor have arisen.

Both the Greens and the NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) expressed their concerns over the violent response to protestors. 

Greens MP Sue Higginson said in a statement that the arrest was a “violent response to a non-violent protest which seems to be the mandate of the current NSW government”.

“[Tuesday’s] arrest of Danny Lim at the Queen Victoria Building is what a police state looks like” she said.

Higginson also wrote a letter to NSW Minister for Police Paul Toole asking for a “completely independent investigation” into the police’s actions.

“This investigation needs to be conducted at arms length from the police and ideally by the LECC [Law Enforcement Conduct Commission].”

Police violence against protestors ongoing, says NSWCCL

“Over the past year we have seen police come down hard on protestors” Josh Pallas, President of the NSWCCL said. 

“Yesterday’s police violence directed at Danny Lim takes this to a new level.”

Pallas said Lim is a well known protestor in Sydney, who was just “going about his life and was still subjected to violent policing”. 

Protestors gathered outside the Surry Hills Police Area Command yesterday to voice outrage over Lim’s arrest. Signs at the protest read “Stop NSW police brutality”, and “CVN’T hit Danny Lim”.

Shoebridge addresses Senate

The federal Senate heard a statement from Shoebridge about the violent police response. Shoebridge described the video of Lim being arrested by police as “genuinely shocking”.

He condemned the arrest over a sandwich board sign that “is definitely not as offensive as the brutality he was subjected to yesterday”.

Lim was previously arrested for the sign, or a similar one, in 2019, but the magistrate ruled that while it was “cheeky”, it was not offensive.

The criticism over police’s actions in regard to Lim’s arrest come as harsh anti-protestor laws are being upheld in NSW. NSW Labor recently upheld support for the laws which allow government to dole out massive fines as well as significant jail time to protestors.

NSW Police say an independent review will be held on Lim’s attempted arrest, later adding that the LECC will be involved in the investigation.