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This News Service is posted by the
International Secretariat of Amnesty International,
1 Easton Street, London WC1X 8DJ
(Tel +44-71-413-5500, Fax +44-71-956-1157)
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News Service 35/96
AI INDEX: ASA 12/05/96
23 FEBRUARY 1996


AUSTRALIA: POLITICAL ACTIVIST BECOMES FIRST PRISONER OFCONSCIENCE FOR OVER  
20 YEARS

The Australian Federal Government should immediately and
unconditionally release Albert Langer whom the organization
considers to be the first prisoner of conscience in the
country for over 20 years, Amnesty International said today.
      ~It is outrageous that anyone can find themselves in
jail for a non-violent campaign urging citizens to make use
of a legally acceptable form of voting,~ the human rights
organization said.

      ~We find it difficult to comprehend why the Australian
Electoral Commission on the one hand declares as acceptable
the optional form of voting advocated by Albert Langer, while
on the other hand initiates legal action which ultimately led
to his imprisonment for 10 weeks.~

      Amnesty International believes that Albert Langer's
imprisonment is a direct result of the exercise of his right
to freedom of expression.

      ~By seeking the injunction the Australian authorities
have interfered with the free exercise of that right
guaranteed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and
also in the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, to which Australia is a party,~ the organization
said.

      Albert Langer, a locally well-known political activist,
had unsuccessfully challenged the validity of section 329A of
the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 in the High Court of
Australia. This section provides for prison sentences of up
to 6 months for anyone who publicly encourages voters to fill
in a ballot paper otherwise than in a clearly preferential
manner.

      Voting is compulsory in Australia, and voters in House
of Representatives elections are asked to fill in their
ballot papers by placing the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc, next
to the candidates's names to indicate preference.
      Following a complaint by the Australian Electoral
Commission, the Victorian Supreme Court issued an injunction
on 8 February 1996 ordering Albert Langer to stop urging
Australians to mark ballot papers in a way that would have
given preference to smaller political parties at the expense
of the two major parties.

      On 14 February 1996, Albert Langer was sentenced to 10
weeks~ imprisonment for contempt of court after he had
ignored the Victorian Supreme Court order to stop his
campaign.

      ~Albert Langer's imprisonment is ultimately the result
of contradictory provisions in the Australian Electoral Act
affecting his fundamental right of freedom of expression,~Amnesty  
International said. ~We regard him as a prisoner of
conscience.~

      The organization uses the term ~prisoners of
conscience~ to describe those imprisoned for their political,
religious or other conscientiously held beliefs, or by reason
of their ethnic origin, sex, colour, language, national or
social origin, economic status, birth or other status who
have not used or advocated violence.

ENDS/



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