Lawyers for Hannah Thomas, a former Greens candidate, have claimed that a police officer punched her in the face during a pro-Palestine protest in Sydney, causing serious injury to her eye. They announced plans to sue the state of New South Wales for excessive use of force.
Thomas, 35, was arrested at the protest on 27 June, attended by about 60 people. She was taken to hospital and has undergone a second round of surgery amid fears she could lose sight in her right eye. Thomas ran against Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in the seat of Grayndler at the last federal election.
Her solicitor, Peter O'Brien, said he had viewed body-worn camera footage and was satisfied that Thomas was punched in the face by a male police officer. He described her as an innocent victim of gratuitous police brutality and called for the two criminal charges against her to be withdrawn.
Assistant Police Commissioner Brett McFadden had previously stated there was no information indicating misconduct by officers. He said Thomas was given a move-on direction, failed to comply, and that a scuffle ensued during which she sustained the injury.
O'Brien has written to NSW police and the Director of Public Prosecutions requesting the charges be dropped. He said the firm had instructions to proceed with a civil claim against the state for assault, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, and other torts.
The NSW Greens spokesperson for justice, Sue Higginson, called for charges against Thomas and four others to be dropped, and for McFadden to stand down. Thomas told Guardian Australia it could be months before she knows how much sight she will recover, but said she was recovering well after her second surgery.
