Council Welcomes Due Process in Senior Sergeant Hurley Case
The President of the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties today welcomed the fact that due process had been followed in the case of Sergeant Hurley.
“Whilst the Council accepts that some members of the community may be disappointed with the outcome of the case, the Council’s view is that due process having been according to Mr Hurley. We must accept that justice has been done in this individual case,” QCCL President Michael Cope said.
“Mr Hurley was at all times presumed to be innocent. In a fair trial at which a jury considered all the evidence his position has been vindicated. For this reason the Council does not intend to comment further on the verdict.”
However, Mr Cope said the Council remained highly critical of the way in which this matter had been handled by the Director of Public Prosecutions. He said the DPP had failed to adequately explain to the community her reasons for not prosecuting Sergeant Hurley.
“The prosecution that was brought was made on the basis of an opinion obtained from an eminent and learned lawyer after a transparent public process. The Council has not resiled from its view that it is appropriate for the Attorney General to have a ‘reserve power’ to bring prosecutions when the DPP refuses to do so, in circumstances where the Attorney General has obtained an independent opinion that there are prospects of a successful conviction.”
The QCCL president noted that some sixteen years had passed since the report of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody. “It is sad to say that the same issues which led to that inquiry continue to bedevil relations between police and the aboriginal community,” he continued.
“One of the key recommendations of the Commission was that drunk people should not be detained unless they are incapable of taking care of themselves, likely to harm someone else, or likely to damage property. In particular the Commission recommended that the use of offensive language should not lead to an arrest or charge. The clear evidence is that the only reason that Doomadgee was detained was that he was drunk and swore at the police officers. Had the recommendations of the Commission been followed in this case this whole tragic incident could have been avoided.”
Mr Cope said it was well past time for the government and the Aboriginal community to focus upon resolving the underlying issues.
“It is only in this way that lasting lessons can be learned from this tragedy, a tragedy for both Mr Doomadgee and Mr Hurley,” he concluded.
20 June 2007
Queensland Council for Civil Liberties