Austrailan police officer charged with assault at pro-Palestinian protest

A New South Wales (NSW) police officer has been charged with allegedly assaulting a protester at a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Sydney earlier this year.

Hannah Thomas, a former Greens party candidate, alleges she was punched in the face by an officer during a June protest in Belmore. Her injuries required surgery.

The protest was held outside SEC Plating, which demonstrators say supplies weapons parts to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The company has denied the claims.

NSW Police said the employment of the senior constable, 33, was under review and a critical incident investigation – triggered when an officer is involved in an event resulting in death or serious injury – was ongoing.

The police officer, charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm, is due to appear in court next month.

Thomas was among dozens of protestors gathered outside SEC Plating in the early hours of Friday 27 June. They claimed the manufacturer made components for F-35 jets, which are used by the IDF.

Police were called to the protest – which they said was unauthorised – and ordered the group to leave before a scuffle broke out, NSW Police said in a release shortly after the incident.

Five people, including Thomas, were arrested.

Thomas, 35, was taken to hospital after the alleged assault and received treatment for her facial injuries.

In an Instagram post hours after the protest, Thomas told followers that she might lose permanent vision in her right eye.

She was charged with failing to comply with a police order to disperse, as well as resisting an officer.

Earlier this month, prosecutors dropped all the charges against Thomas and she was awarded about A$22,000 ($14,500; £11,000) in legal costs.

Outside the court, her lawyer Peter O’Brien said the long-term impact on Thomas’s right eye was still unknown, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

Mr O’Brien said he would be filing civil proceedings against police in the NSW Supreme Court over the incident, including for malicious prosecution, assault and battery by police, malfeasance in public office and collateral abuse of process.