CHURCH indigenous groups are concerned about the impact on indigenous communities following a decision not to prosecute the police officer involved in the death of a Palm Island man.
Townsville diocese’s newly formed Indigenous Catholic Council had just finished its first meeting with Bishop Michael Putney on December 14 when they heard the news Queensland’s director of Public Prosecutions, Leanne Clare, had decided not to charge the police officer involved in the death of Mulrunji Doomadgee on Palm Island in November 2004.
In September, Deputy State Coroner Christine Clements ruled Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley was responsible for the death of the 36-year-old, who died from internal bleeding from a ruptured liver and portal vein.
However, Ms Clare said Mulrunji died from a “tragic fall” and the evidence was not capable of proving Snr Sgt Hurley was criminally responsible for his death.
The council said that because of history and often the personal experience of indigenous people, they often found it hard to trust the legal processes.
Meanwhile, the executive secretary of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ecumenical Commission (NATSIEC), Graeme Mundine, said the decision not to prosecute the police officer would be difficult for fair-minded Australians to accept.
Mr Mundine said the contradictory decisions in no way clarified the culpability of the officer in Mulrunji’s death and raised many more doubts about due process in the case.
