Following the arrest and 3-month jail sentence of climate change protester Laura Davy, 21, a second protester has been given a one month custodial sentence after he suspended himself above a railway track in Newcastle.

Samuel Gribben, 21, received appeal bail on Friday following his sentence for his action as part of the coal port Blockade Australia protests.

Lydia Shelly, President, NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) called for NSW anti-protest laws to be immediately repealed. 

“There is no place for them in an open and democratic society. The right to protest is integral to democratic system of government and way of life,” she said. 

“In Australia, protest movements have historically been instrumental in holding governments to account and affecting real change. This has included disruptive protests that are considered ‘inconvenient.’”

Shelly adds that these anti-protest laws “not only criminalise protests, but they also cultivate an environment of fear and they have a chilling effect on organising peaceful movements that desire positive social change.”

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