Papal visit protest rules rile Australians

Jul 1, 2008, 10:17 GMT

Sydney - Gay and lesbian Catholics planning protests when Pope Benedict XVI visits Australia later this month said Tuesday they would defy new powers that allow arrests for 'causing annoyance' during the pontiff's stay in Sydney.

Police and even emergency service volunteers will have the authority to detain those causing 'annoyance or inconvenience' to pilgrims during the July 15-21 celebrations of World Youth Day.

NoToPope spokeswoman Rachel Evans said her group would still be out in the streets trying to hand out condoms to the hundreds of thousands of young pilgrims expected to flock an event held every three years.

'We're not anti-religion,' Evans told Australia's AAP news agency. 'We expect the police will allow us to distribute condoms to the young pilgrims and talk with them about human rights issues.'

Lawyer Anna Katzmann, the president of the New South Wales Bar Association, described the new powers as 'unnecessary and repugnant.'

'If I were to wear a T-shirt proclaiming that 'World Youth Day is a waste of public money' and refuse to remove it when an officer of the Rural Fire Service asks me to, I would commit a criminal offence,' Katzmann said.

Deputy Police Commissioner Dave Owens defended the new rules against charges they were anti-democratic and promised his officers would use their discretion in using the powers.

But asked whether someone wearing a T-shirt advocating condom use risked arrest and a hefty fine, Owens would not rule that out. He replied that 'each individual circumstance will have to be dealt with individually.'