TAS: Forest defenders admit anti-logging charges

AAP General News (Australia)
04-02-2007
TAS: Forest defenders admit anti-logging charges

HOBART, April 2 AAP - Eight "forest defenders" have pleaded guilty to charges relating
to anti-logging protests in southern Tasmania.

They did not have any convictions recorded against them but were placed on good behaviour
bonds from six months to two years at the Hobart Magistrates Court today.

The charges, ranging from trespass, failing to comply, and obstructing a police officer,
relate to protests in the Upper Florentine and Weld valleys earlier this year.

Speaking outside court, Still Wild Still Threatened spokeswoman Ula Majewski said the
group would continue to act against forest devastation.

"At this very moment, chainsaws, bulldozers and excavators are ripping apart some of
Tasmania's most precious and complex ecosystems located in the Upper Florentine, Weld
and Styx valleys," she said.

She said a number of peaceful community protests have been conducted in the Upper Florentine
and Weld valleys in response to Forestry Tasmania's expanded logging and roading operations
within old growth forests in the area.

Eight other people today pleaded not guilty to forest protest charges and their cases
were adjourned to May.

AAP grc/cjh/jlw

KEYWORD: PROTESTS

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