More footage has emerged from last week’s student protest against cuts to education at the University of Sydney, and this time it appears to show a cop treading on a legal observer’s phone.
The video, shared by the Sydney University Education Action Group, shows a legal observer falling to the ground after apparently being shoved from behind.
“I’m not part of this protest, I’m only getting evidence,” he can be heard saying to an officer.
“I’m down, I’m down, I’m down,” he told the officer, who proceeded to step on his phone at last four times.
It’s unclear whether it was deliberate or an accident, however several students described to PEDESTRIAN.TV being pushed, dragged and even thrown by police officers on the day of the protest.
The legal observer behind the camera was simply trying to hand out legal information to protesters and collect footage of the altercation at the Parramatta Road as evidence to be used later in the event of police brutality.
“It is an absolute joke that police officers can use force like this in order to uphold ‘health and safety’,” the Education Action Group said in a post.
“Police are using COVID-19 laws to criminalise, fine and abuse protesters.”
According to the group, the phone was “smashed” after the incident.
The peaceful protest was a response to government changes that will shift funding from some courses like arts and law to STEM and other “job-ready” fields.
The changes threaten to make some arts degrees more than double in price to around $14,000 per year, while students who fail classes early on will be penalised by losing government funding.
On top of that, the students were also rallying against job cuts at the University of Sydney and elsewhere, which they say is part of the wider trend of casualisation in higher education.
During and after the demonstration, NSW Police issued 14 Penalty Infringement Notices (PINs), which are $1,000 each.
Students are now raising money to pay these fines.
