The below was written and posted elsewhere, by Dr Bruce Paix. A brilliant man and accomplished military (medical) doctor.
I'm posting it here for posterity, and look forward to adding more information as and if he chooses to makes it public.
Today, Tuesday 22 November, finally ended my 9 month ordeal at the hands of the state when I was
found not guilty of all 4 charges laid against me after I was arrested whilst protesting COVID vaccine
mandates during the ‘Convoy to Canberra’ protest.
These were all serious criminal charges:
- Furious/reckless/dangerous driving (maximum penalty 100 penalty points/12 months
imprisonment and loss of drivers’ licence). - Aggravated dangerous driving (maximum penalty 300 penalty points/3 years imprisonment
and loss of drivers’ licence). - Common Assault (maximum penalty 2 years imprisonment).
- Assault occasioning actual bodily harm (maximum penalty 5+ years imprisonment).
Conviction on ANY of these charges would also have resulted in loss of my firearms licence, which
was the underlying threat the South Australian Police made in late 2021, when they came to my home at the behest of my state MP, the then Attorney General Josh Teague, and told me that ‘things might happen which I did not want’ if I did not ‘tone down’ my criticisms of the government regarding COVID.
Interestingly, there were at least 2 other cases in court that same week relating to arrests during the Canberra Convoy. One involved a 66 year old woman who had allegedly ‘assaulted police’ but claimed she had video evidence to the contrary (yet another reinforcement of the sadly now
necessary ‘always film the police’ commandment).
Another apparently also included a defendant wearing military medals.
To recap: this was NOT the case of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) reluctantly prosecuting a dodgy case brought to them second hand, the AFP laid the charges themselves, based upon the eyewitness testimonies of 3 AFP Officers, and the so called ‘victim’.
The AFP initially arrested me for ‘Dangerous Driving’ after I was stopped by a road worker who was beginning to set up a road block to prevent protesters entering Canberra Airport. They then progressively added the 3 other, more serious, charges, with ‘Assault occasioning actual bodily harm’ being the gravest, carrying up to 5 years in jail, or more if ‘aggravated’, eg by the use of a weapon as they are alleging (My Landcruiser).
My contacts in the Police have since told me this layering on of additional charges is a standard intimidatory tactic known as a ‘burger with the lot’.
Tellingly, I was offered bail a few hours after my arrest, but only on condition that I cease protesting and leave Canberra.
I declined this, hence went to jail where I spent 6 days in solitary confinement, isolated from the world, before my lawyer secured more appropriate bail conditions.
I knew from the outset that the charges were concocted because what had actually happened was a hot-tempered road worker suddenly jumped out from behind his parked vehicle into my path, causing me to stop, which I could do because the traffic stream, including my vehicle, was only
moving at walking pace.
He then marched up to the front of my vehicle and punched the bonnet.
This was conveniently ‘witnessed’ by 3 AFP officers who just happened to be watching from their stationary patrol car only 50m away (in another coincidence, one of whom – the one who charged me - was actually on temporary assignment to the AFPs ‘COVID Management Task Force’ at the time!).
They immediately descended upon me and arrested me, having ‘seen’ me drive through numerous ‘traffic control devices’ (multiple ACT Roads vehicles, illuminated signs, witches’ hats, flashing orange beacons etc) and ‘deliberately’ ram the traffic worker, causing him injury.
What they didn’t realise was, whilst not filming the incident itself (we didn’t know it was an incident until it was), we did have film of the immediate aftermath, including 2 crucial pieces of evidence which exonerated me:
A general view of the incident scene itself. Our video showed this was an open lane with NO traffic control devices of any sort, just an unidentified 4wd vehicle parked partially across the roadway – to me it looked like a tradies ute.
The officer who charged me clearly stating, as his first words, at my window ‘You nearly hit that man, we were just there, we saw you, you nearly run that man over’.
In consequence, their case was a train wreck, with my lawyer asking their witnesses, in turn, to describe, in detail, all the ‘road closure’ devices (cones etc) which were in place, confirming that they had a good view and were very confident in their accounts, then being shown our film refuting it all.
It ended with the magistrate schooling the prosecutor and him quarrelling back.
Ultimately, the AFP closed by trying to argue:
The prosecution witnesses all SAID that they saw cones etc closing the road, so they must have been there, just that they were not visible!
The AFP Officer who ADMITTED – twice – that he saw me NOT HIT the road worker, ‘misspoke’, due to stress and adrenaline etc – ie when he said ‘nearly’, he didn’t mean nearly – he meant I actually hit the road worker.
My defence made much of this, and of the fact
that, having ‘witnessed’ this serious assault with a weapon (my Landcruiser), he failed to ‘disarm’ me and instead invited me to stay seated in the car with the engine running!
They didn’t arrest me at all for about half an hour, and only then after background checking me
and making multiple phone calls. The AFP also failed to seize my vehicle for forensic examination, and failed to interview – or even identify - the other 2 people in my car (who must have at least been ‘witnesses’ to my crime, if not accomplices!).
We know the AFP were running a special policing operation to control the Canberra protestors. I believe they were under instructions to ‘make an example’ of protestors on the day, and I was initially just a random target.
I believe, however, that once they identified me as a credible figure in the protest movement, they colluded to concoct the unfounded charges of which I was acquitted today.
Crucial to my defence was video taken by my companions at the incident scene. Fortunately, my earlier interaction with SAPOL had taught me that citizens MUST ALWAYS FILM INTERACTIONS WITH THE POLICE.
Had this film not been available, I believe the judge would have regarded the AFP Officers as ‘Impartial Professional Witnesses’ and I would have gone to jail. It was telling that the reciprocal AFP bodycam video was NOT AVAILABLE despite me twice confirming with that I was
being filmed, and my asking (and the AFP agreeing) that the vision be kept as I intended to call upon it in court. Apparently the officer found, to his surprise (!), upon return to the station, that his body
cam had ‘gone flat’ and the video was gone.
Police body cameras provide important protection for
BOTH citizens and police officers and stories of ‘technical issues’ whereby police have ‘lost’ such video are all too common and convenient.
Clearly we need stronger measures to ensure this does
not continue. Where there is a statutory requirement for a police officers to capture a video record of them in the performance of their duties, there should be significant penalties for failure to do so, irrespective of the reason.
Unfortunately, my story above just re-inforces just how far and how fast our once free country has fallen.
If a state MP can send the police around to threaten a senior doctor for well-founded criticism of public health policy, then the Federal Police can arrest that same doctor on concocted charges whilst protesting, then offer him bail only on condition of ceasing protesting, then drag him through an expensive and stressful court process, where ultimately he has to rely on his own independent evidence to beat false charges laid by the Federal Police themselves, sadly, Australia is now a 3rd world country.