If as a nation we support those declaring their aspirations in Cairo’s Tahrir Square or before that in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square and Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz, then we surely are bound to defend the rights of the “occupy” movement.

Actually, Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle is only bound by political expediency–and bad advice, presumably emanating from government and police authorities. Otherwise, the defence of civil rights has a very definite legal dimension, while Dr_Tad has some interesting disco on the protest’s political dimension here. Nicola Paris is presumably one of several photographers to have documented the removal of police ID prior to police action: a practice disavowed by police command but now standard practice for at least a decade and adopted so as to limit police liability in civil cases.

I wonder if this policeman will escape caution?