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Dear FIJA (Fully Informed Jury
Association),
It has just been reported on page 6 of "The
Australian", a national newspaper, that a jury in the Cairns District
Court, in the state of Queensland, on January 28, 2001 acquitted two Australian
Aborigines "of armed robery charges after they approached a commercial
vessel, the Lisa Jane, in 1998 and confiscated its catch of coral
trout.".
This arises out of a dispute over fishing rights
in "the waters that divide Queensland from Papua New Guinea".
The Queensland government laws allow commercial fishing in that area.
However, On March 16, the Mer community - home of Eddie Mabo and Australia's
first native title claim - approved a unanimous resolution to ban all commercial
fishing vessels from operating "in the perimeters of our economic maritime
boundaries" ".
On the television news, this morning, a
spokesman for the Queensland government warned that police would be sent to the
area if the Mer community enforce their ultimatum that all commercial fishermen
should get out of the area within seven days.
- John Wilson.
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