French journalist charged with trespass over Adani protest
Monday's anti-Adani protest near Bowen, in northern Queensland. Photo: Twitter/ Deb Frecklington
A prominent French journalist and his film crew have been charged with trespass for being on the railway line at the entrance to Adani’s Abbot Point coal-loading facility in north Queensland.
Reporter Hugo Clement and his crew have been bailed to appear at the Bowen Magistrates Court in early September.
The police charge sheet shows strict bail conditions have been applied to Mr Clement, banning him from being within 20 kilometres of Adani’s Carmichael mine site or less than 100 metres from any other Adani site.
Mr Clement, who works for the French national broadcaster France2, was filming an anti-Adani protest when the group was put in handcuffs and arrested about 7am on Monday.
As part of the protest, two women had locked their arms into a concrete-filled barrel and were sitting across the rail line into the port.
Police used specialist cutting equipment to remove the women just before 11am.
It is the latest in ongoing protests against coal mining and the approval of the Carmichael Mine in the Galilee Basin.
More protesters attacking jobs near Bowen. A number of businesses who have nothing to do with the resources industry couldn’t access their properties. Enough is enough, time @QLDLabor got serious & came down like a tonne of bricks on these protesters #qldpol #auspol pic.twitter.com/i2A6gwgVe9
— Deb Frecklington MP (@DebFrecklington) July 22, 2019
Mr Clement is in the region working on a documentary series about climate change and the environment.
Footage taken from the scene shows Mr Clement and a cameraman walking alongside the rail line, with a group of protesters behind him.
He is well known in Europe for his work on climate change and the environment and has previously told stories on e-waste being dumped in Africa, marine debris, and the export of waste from France to South East Asia.
Mr Clement and his crew have been taken to the police station in Bowen but as yet no charges have been laid.
French journalist @hugoclement and 3 camera men arrested while covering the Adani mine issue for a documentary, at #BlockadeAdani protest at Abbot Point. #StopAdani https://t.co/3i73EdBvtr pic.twitter.com/r3BEsbeSTb
— Jenny Weber (@JennyowlWeber) July 22, 2019
The Frontline Action on Coal said Mr Clement and his cameramen were arrested for being within a railway corridor.
Monday morning’s protest was timed to coincide with the start of clearing works on the site.
In Brisbane, another group of protesters blocked trucks from leaving a concrete pumping business at Windsor.
Protesters said the company was a contractor to Adani and was helping upgrade roads in the Galilee Basin so heavy vehicles and machinery could reach the mine site.
