Covid lockdown critic Monica Smit, who was arrested three times and charged with encouraging protests against Victoria state Premier Dan Andrews' lockdown policies and vaccine mandates and refusing to take a PCR test. For this she received 22 days in solitary confinement, a punishment typically delivered to the most hardened criminals, all for political acts of civil disobedience against laws that were contested as being contrary to human rights. That makes her a political prisoner. And the Victorian lockdowns, and behaviours of the police, not their finest hour, need to be accounted for.
Smit rightly says that her action is for all Australians who were harmed by the lockdowns. LifeSite News has a nice conclusion: "Smit's courage is unmistakable, and she has become an effective focal point for Australians who feel betrayed by their governments. The anger among those who resisted the actions of the state is, if anything, increasing as the scale of the government overreaction becomes more evident."
We hope that justice will be done at some point, if not in this case.
"The most high-profile opponent of Australia's brutal COVID-19 lockdowns, vaccine mandates, and violent suppression of public criticism has been Monica Smit. Her resistance is continuing. She has announced that she will be suing the Victoria police. The court case is scheduled for July 23 and is expected to take 15 days.
In October 2020 Smit was reporting on a COVID protest when she was arrested three times, handcuffed, and held in a van for 45 minutes. In her own words, it changed her life. "If my Australian brothers and sisters, the police, are willing to do this to me what are they willing to do to other people?"
She was soon to find out. Smit continued her protests undeterred and in 2021 she was arrested and charged with encouraging protests against Victoria state Premier Dan Andrews' lockdown policies and vaccine mandates, and refusing to take a PCR test. She spent 22 days in solitary confinement for these supposed crimes, an incarceration that has afforded her the status of being described as Australia's first political prisoner.
Smit is adamant that she is bringing the action not for herself, but for the Victorians who were pepper sprayed, hit with rubber bullets, had their businesses destroyed by the lockdowns (the longest in the world), got arrested for "unacceptable" social media posts, or were hit with "COVID fines."
"Someone needs to be made an example of; someone needs to be accountable," she says. Her aim is to use the opportunity to publicly air grievances, adding that she "will feel guilty for the rest of [her] life" if she does not do something. "I can guarantee… that I will never, ever take a deal to be silenced."
Smit's courage is unmistakeable, and she has become an effective focal point for Australians who feel betrayed by their governments. The anger among those who resisted the actions of the state is, if anything, increasing as the scale of the government overreaction becomes more evident.
Smit says her desired outcome is to set a precedent that people like her "can't be falsely arrested like this in a democratic country like Australia." She also wants to make at least one officer personally accountable for what happened to her. "Officers should be reminded that 'following orders' is not an excuse, and that they are allowed to act conscientiously. I'd like to make an example of at least one officer so others might think twice before following unlawful orders."
The COVID shutdowns have created huge damage to Australia's civil fabric – once a source of pride and now cause for shame. One of Smit's motivations is to restore that past, when Australia was a better country – as evidenced in the title of the political party she founded: Reignite Democracy Australia.
She acknowledges that she may not succeed in court, but she is both defiant and determined. "I'm going all the way to trial so it's on the public record forever. It's not about me getting justice for myself, it's for everyone who deserved to be heard but didn't have the resources or lifestyle to. I hope this will be the people's case, not just Monica Smit's case."