Parliamentary protesters face less jail time after appeal

The Northern Territory's Supreme Court has given four protesters who stormed Parliament almost five years ago lesser sentences on appeal.

Stuart Highway, Robert Inder-Smith, Michael Lambe and Emma Birkeland-Corro barged into a parliamentary session in May 2002, protesting against drug laws.

They were convicted of intentionally disturbing an assembly while in session and were sentenced to up to five months in prison, which they appealed.

Today the court reduced Inder-Smith and Lambe's sentences, so each will serve one month in jail, and Birkeland-Corro was fined.

Stuart Highway had his six-month sentence fully suspended and says he still believes in protests but would not storm Parliament again.

"Probably not, knowing the consequences of being dragged through the courts for years, it's probably best to stay within the law as far as you can," he said.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Mon, 26 Feb 2007
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia -Web)
Copyright: 2007 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/