Security blanket in Perth

Dinesh WEERAWANSA in Perth, Australia

Protesters from the Occupy Perth activist group look set to clash with police over plans to camp in a city square during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting which began in Perth yesterday.

Inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement, the activists of the Occupy Perth Movement, plan to camp in Forrest Place in defiance of City of Perth by-laws stipulating no overnight camping is allowed.

The Australian police declared that they will work with the city council and act if the protesters break the laws. The latest development could well lead to a situation similar to those seen recently in Melbourne and Sydney where police dragged protesters from their makeshift camps in city squares.

However, Australian security forces and the police threw a strong security blanket, fearing any terrorist attacks. The security arrangements in the Western Australian capital were even much tighter than Sri Lanka had during the height of the battle against terrorism during 2006 to 2009.

While declaring a public holiday to the provincial capital, Australian authorities announced a high security zone manned by thousands of policemen and intelligence men. The area covering the conference venue and hotels in which visiting delegates are residing, have been declared a high security zone preventing public access.

Roads leading to the route of the VVIP movements were blocked two sets of vehicles across each by lane, fearing any suicide attacks. The Australian Air Force regularly monitored the ground situation from the skies as the largest security cover in Australian history was in place to protect the visiting heads of states and other VVIP delegates.

Meanwhile, early yesterday, a protest march in Perth ended peacefully after police blocked about 500 people from nearing the summit venue. When the protestors were blocked by the Police, they sat down in the street. They later broke up peacefully and returned to their original rallying point at Forrest Place. However, the Police, on horseback and on foot as in helicopters, kept a vigil eye.

Deputy Police Commissioner of Western Australia Chris Dawson told newsmen that the police were happy with the peaceful conduct of protesters and said no arrests have been made. Protesters, representing about 20 different causes, were setting up marquees in Forrest Place and planning to stay overnight to highlight their protest against capitalist greed.

Meanwhile, LTTE sympathizers and a section of Tamil disapora, which have been making desperate attempts to get down Tamils living in Australia to organize a major protest against Sri Lanka, fared miserably in their attempt. Despite offering free return air tickets and accommodation to Tamils living in Melbourne and Sydney, they managed to get less than 50 people for an unsuccessful protest in Perth yesterday.

It was a major setback for the supporters of the now defunct LTTE terrorist outfit which made an ambitious campaign to conduct a major protest with the intention of discrediting Sri Lanka. Hardly anyone noticed them, as there were several other protests against certain countries and organizations over various issues. Among them were two men dressed as nuns demanding the Australian government to allow the same-sex marriage.