December 19, 2005
Australia. SMS sentences 'too harsh'
News.com.au reports that A ten-year jail sentence for people who send text messages that incite violence has been labelled as "excessive" by civil liberties groups. That's some escalation, a few days ago, the The Australian reported that "authors of racial SMS faced a $5,000 fine and 6 months in jail".
"Using the new powers rushed through the NSW Parliament last week, police confiscated at least 22 mobile phones, some with SMS messages urging Arabs to "arm up and get ready for war".
Australian Council of Civil Liberties secretary Cameron Murphy yesterday condemned the text messages, but said the maximum jail sentence of 10 years for those who forwarded them was too harsh. "It's excessive for this type of offence," Mr Murphy said. "Police should not be able to access anybody's phone without a warrant or reasonable suspicion. "
In another related article from The Sydney Morning Herald, Federal authorities have said they can trace the source of text messages that have been circulating, inciting racial unrest in Sydney, and that this should opefully deter people from engaging in anti-social behaviour."
Related articles on the Cronulla beach riots:
-- Authors of racial SMS face a $5,000 fine and 6 months in jail
-- Authors of racial SMS face a $5,000 fine and 6 months in jail
-- Police consider SMS Cronulla messages 'a crime'
Picture from the Herald Sun photo gallery.
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