Democratic Alliance Party (DPDA) leader and Queensland Senate candidate Drew Pavlou has been arrested after protesting in Sydney, just over a week after he was allegedly assaulted at a protest against Chinese President Xi Jingping.
The Saturday protest took place under police presence at Eastwood Night Markets in Sydney’s north-western suburbs.
Protesters held signs in Mandarin and English calling for freedom in Hong Kong and Tibet.
Several protestors were also heard yelling similar slogans in both languages as things between protesters and members of the public got heated.
Police took Pavlou to the side of the night markets after officers intervened in a heated argument between supporters of Pavlou and bystanders, who began shouting at each other in Mandarin.
After Pavlou reentered the night markets and continued protesting, police immediately took him back to the side and gave him a move on order. Police also banned him from the Eastwood CBD for six hours.
Pavlou failed to comply with the order and was arrested.
Pavlou was charged with failing to comply with police directions and was placed in a holding cell at Eastwood Police Station for five hours before he was bailed out.
Under bail conditions, Pavlou is not allowed to go within a kilometre of the suburbs of Eastwood and Epping.
A NSW Police spokesperson confirmed Pavlou’s arrest to The Australian, telling the newspaper “Police spoke with a 22-year-old man and issued a move along direction. When the man failed to comply with that move along direction, he was arrested.”
This is the second time in recent weeks Pavlou has been charged. Earlier last week, NSW Police charged him after he was alleged assaulted for holding up a sign that read “F*ck Xi Jinping.” The exact charge is not yet revealed.
Local residents and visitors to the night markets reacted to the protest, with one resident telling The Tertangala they are “fine with the protest as long as it isn’t against Chinese people.”
Another visitor to the market said he supports free speech as long as it does not spark hate.
Another resident told The Tertangala she believes Pavlou has the freedom of speech to protest while also calling Pavlou “very sincere” in his activism.
Pavlou has come under fire for both protests, with some Twitter users calling the them provocative, while some have celebrated his arrest.
Senior Correspondent for the Australian Financial Review, Aaron Patrick, re-tweeted similar sentiments late last Monday, calling the protest “an interesting test of free speech in election campaigns.” Patrick also claims Pavlou’s “provocative anti-CCP stunt” was done to attract attention on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/apatrickafr/status/1521304159861219328
Pavlou replied to the tweet, saying he would not apologise for “rocking the boat” to make people aware of atrocities committed by the Chinese Communist Party.
In early 2020, Pavlou was suspended by the University of Queensland after a disciplinary board found Pavlou to be in violation of its disciplinary policies 11 times.
According to ABC News, the violations were in relation to his anti-Beijing activism on campus which heavily criticised the CCP. Pavlou has claimed his suspension was due to UQ’s alleged ties to the CCP.
Pavlou is set to face Hornsby Local Court on 25 May.
The Tertangala has reached out to Pavlou and DPDA candidate for Bennelong Kyinzom Dhongdue for a comment but has yet to receive a response.