Justice for Roberto Laudisio Curti Rally

So it is time to act. The Indigenous Social Justice Association (ISJA) is calling to all Latinos and their Organizations to come together with the activists of the Deaths in Custody campaign, the defenders of Refugee Rights, and all the Human Rights campaigners to the Brazilian Consulate, 45 Clarence st, Sydney, at 12.30 on Tuesday 3rd of April, to present a letter to the Consul that we fully support them and Roberto's Family in their demanding of a full and open investigation and for real justice to occur in the killing of Roberto.

Contact all your friends, networks, bring your flags, your banners and join us. Don't allow JUSTICE to become JUST US!

For more information contact Ray Jackson at 0450651063 or Raul Bassi at 0403037376
Messages of support can be sent to isja01@internode.on.net.

The death in custody of Roberto Curti at the hands of 6 NSW police officers early on Sunday 18 March 2012 is one that cannot be allowed to pass without a strong response.

Having watched the video of a part of the chase it is quite clear that the alleged “biscuits thief”, as he was described at the time of the chase, was running away from the 6 police officers and thus is proven to have not caused any danger to those officers. One officer is seen to be smashing his head against the frame of the shop window. There is no logical conclusion why he was then tasered in his back, THREE TIMES, as he staggered away. Also, it has been said that the victim had already been sprayed with capsicum spray and probably his eyes were burning, so he was running to get away from being sprayed again.

This logical conclusion, however was never accepted by the police. Also, the fact that 6 police officers could have quite easily caught Roberto without using a taser has never been mentioned.

Ray Jackson, one of the more committed campaigners against Death in Custody, said: “I know that police around Australia, with the single exception of Tasmania, all swear that the taser is a required weapon and continue to falsely argue that tasers do not kill. They, of course do kill as was shown in Queensland in 2009 and now here. There are multiple deaths by taser recorded overseas but still the manufacturer believes that tasers do not kill. That is a bald-faced lie. Tasers must be withdrawn from frontline officers before any more citizens are killed unnecessarily by them. The use of tasers or guns must be restricted only to more senior police or specially trained units."

Ray continued, "Unlike the USA we do not have a culture of guns and I do not understand why our frontline officers, especially those new recruits still in their teens, need to be so heavily armed when they do not have the maturity to use those weapons. I know they are trained to whatever level of expertise they can attain but you cannot train for panic or frustration at the circumstances of the events that they are involved in. Police at all ranks and time in the force will forget whatever training they may have had and will kill, whether by taser or hand gun”. And last Sunday 25th, the NSW police supported this statement by killing an unarmed man in Parramatta Shopping Centre by shooting him at least 5 times. There were different circumstances however with this death.

"So, we are witnessing still another police Death in Custody, like TJ Hickey in Redfern, or Mulrunji in Palm Island, or Terence Briscoe in Alice Spring where the truth must not be allowed to be a casualty of a corrupt police investigation. And how do we know that it is a Death in Custody? Because the police, and the classic allies of the police: the radio verbal vomit, the Daily Terror, the tv current affairs programs together with the politicians, ministers, even the Premier Barry O’Farrell, are only talking about tasers and the needs of their use by 'their' police and not apologizing to the family about the killing of their loved one. Where is the statement of any of these about the terrible tragedy of the killing of an innocent person? The only things that you can hear from them are all the innuendos; maybe he stole a pack of biscuits, or he was on drugs, or he was sick, or any other slur that could confirm that Roberto had done something wrong. And he had. He had just passed through a group of frustrated police totally committed to finding the person responsible for the “terrible robbery” committed against a convenience store", said Raul Bassi.