International Socialists

On Tuesday July 8, five cops (three uniformed and two undercover) turned up to arrest marijuana law reform advocate Abe Gray from the Norml market day stall. He was put into an armlock by two burly policemen and forced into a police car. In pain, Abe called out for help. When two supporters tried to come to his aid, they were also arrested.

At the station, Abe was kept locked up for five hours without food or water, part of the time barefoot in a freezing cell smeared with blood and shit.

Whether you smoke weed or not, this is an attack on your rights.

The increasingly authoritarian atmosphere at the University of Otago – with the budget cops of Campus Watch, the Code of Conduct and big brother, the Campus Cop – will not keep you safe.

This authoritarian shift is a direct result of the creeping privatisation of the education system in which you are the raw material. It marches in lockstep with the war on terror and rising police powers

Defending Abe Gray and Norml’s right to protest is vital to defending your interests and making campus a place that belongs to students.

Public meeting on the arrests and the role of the police

Thurs 7.30pm, Clubs and Socs, Albany St