Updated 11.02am
PROTESTS TOOK PLACE both in Ireland and abroad ahead of the appearance by Joan Burton today for the trial of a 17-year-old for false imprisonment.
Anti-Austerity Alliance TD Paul Murphy says that the trial of the teenager is the first to go ahead because of a shorter backlog of cases in the Children’s Court.
Burton arrived at the court this morning to give evidence in the trial and entered through a side door.
The Labour Party has said that they will not be commenting on an ongoing criminal case.
The 17-year-old who goes to trial today faces two charges of false imprisonment, one relating to Joan Burton and the other to Burton’s assistant.
The main protest at the the District Office of the Children’s Court is taking place in Smithfield in Dublin
Speaking at the demonstration, Murphy said that the charges against the teenager are “outrageous”.
“There’s no allegation of violence or anti-social behaviour or anything like that from him, it’s simply false imprisonment. We think it’s outrageous that a young man’s future would be endangered in that way,” Murphy said.
The TD also added that the “sit-down protest” in Jobstown was similar to other protests that did not lead to any arrests:
This amounts to political policing, it amounts to an attack on the right to protest and I think it’s right that we be here to show solidarity with the 17-year-old facing this very very difficult challenge that obviously he didn’t ask for.
The November 2014 rally in Jobstown in Tallaght has seen a total of 20 people come before the courts.
At the rally, the then-Tánaiste was allegedly confined to her car for two hours.
- With reporting by Cianán Brennan
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