An activist’s freedom of speech was not restricted after his display of placards about the Tiananmen Square massacre near a Chinese consulate resulted in a fine, a judge has found.
Drew Pavlou was found guilty in a Brisbane court of failing to obtain consent for a regulated activity and not complying with a direction to cease from an authorised person.
Activist Drew Pavlou Pavlou failed to comply with a council officer’s instructions to pack up the placards as they constituted unauthorised advertising in the mall.Credit: Kate Geraghty
Pavlou appealed after he was fined $1000 plus $2000 for the Brisbane City Council’s costs and just under $114 for court costs by magistrate Michael Holohan in October 2023, with no conviction recorded.
Brisbane District Court Judge Paul Smith handed down his judgment on Thursday, dismissing the appeal after finding the council’s laws were “reasonable and proportionate”.
“I think the real issue here is whether the placard was communicating ‘advertising matter’,” Smith said.
Pavlou set up a table and placards near the entrance to the Queen Street Mall and Chinese consulate in the city centre in May 2022, the Brisbane Magistrates Court trial was told.
He displayed signs saying “Nothing happened on June 4, 1989, change my mind,” referring to the date when China’s military violently ended a protest, and its Communist government’s efforts to censor discussion of the massacre.
Pavlou was issued an infringement notice after failing to comply with a council officer’s instructions to pack up the placards as they constituted unauthorised advertising in the mall.
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