NSW: Protesters, workers holed up in protest building

AAP General News (Australia)
08-08-2001
NSW: Protesters, workers holed up in protest building

Police say they have established contact with protesters occupying the Colombian consulate
in North Sydney.

The protesters say they will not resist arrest, but are concerned about the police
presence outside.

Police in tactical response gear have established a command centre at the scene, evacuated
the building and blocked off surrounding streets.

AAP reporter REBECCA GLENN, who is inside the building, says there is no indication
that anyone is being held hostage and no sign of weapons.

Ms GLENN says the situation inside the building is calm, but tension has definitely
increased in the past half hour.

She says protesters are a bit astonished that there are police involved and that the
building has been cleared.





The protest began peacefully at 9.30am when about 12 Colombians, some of them Australian
citizens, and four children, aged between three and eight, gathered peacefully outside
the Walker Street building.

The protesters then moved to the Consul General's office on the twelfth floor where
they spoke with two office workers.

The workers, a woman in her forties and a 32-year-old man, remained inside with the
protesters when police cleared the building after protesters locked the door between 10.00
and 10.30am.

The door is now open.

AAP RTV jjs/jas/jn

KEYWORD: COLOMBIANS (SYDNEY)

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