ACTIVISTS IN Sydney are campaigning to defend protesters arrested during the APEC summit in September. Solidarity protests are being held outside major court hearings for the demonstrators.

This has been assisted by the public backlash against police behavior during the APEC period.

Despite police claims, the bulk of the arrests occurred as the actual protest was winding down, when police initiated a confrontation. Two protesters included on the police "exclusion list" were taken into police custody. Police released them just twenty minutes later, claiming they had mistakenly thought they were inside the exclusion zone. But other protesters were arrested as the police charged into the remaining crowd.

The next hearing will take place on November 24 at the Downing Centre.

As part of the defense campaign, activists are also organising support demonstrations for the "Chaser 11", arrested during The Chaser's stunt which gained access to the APEC restricted area. The Chaser's charges are hugely embarrassing for the state government, and getting them dropped raises the pressure on police to drop all APEC charges.

Protesters who faced similar charges after February's visit of US Vice-President Dick Cheney scored successive court victories against the charges. A final defendant beat his charges in early November. Eight of the nine people who faced charges over these protests defeated all charges against them.

James Supple