Police ordered to pay Jonathan Sri legal costs in traffic case

Queensland Police will pay legal costs to high-profile Brisbane councillor Jonathan Sri after offering no evidence in court after booking him for running a yellow light on his bicycle.

Queensland Police have been ordered to pay costs for Green’s councillor Jonathan Sri’s court case as they dropped a traffic charge against him.

Police on January 26 fined the councillor for Brisbane’s Gabba ward $400, alleging he ran a yellow traffic light while riding his bicycle in South Brisbane.

Cr Sri’s hearing was due to begin on Monday when Brisbane Magistrates heard that police offered no evidence.

Magistrate Rowan Silva discharged Cr Sri, whose defence lawyer Kate Fuller requested police pay legal costs. Police did not oppose the application for costs.

Mr Silva ordered the Queensland Police to pay Cr Sri $1500.

Brisbane City Greens councillor Jonathan Sri after police dropped a charge against him.

Outside court, Cr Sri said the costs covered his preparation to defend the charge but didn’t compensate the time he spent attending the court on several occasions.

“Personally I’m disgusted that the QPS would waste so much time and public resources on what was quite obviously a politically motivated charge,” Cr Sri said.

“This has been dragging out in the court for months, when it should’ve been dropped as soon as the footage was reviewed because it was clear that it wasn’t safe for me to stop at the yellow light in question on that particular occasion.”

“ … for a while now I’ve felt like police were giving me a harder time than other elected representatives specifically because of the political views I’ve expressed, and examples like this only reinforce that concern.”

Queensland police last year withdrew a charge against Brisbane councillor Jonathan Sri who was arrested while protesting at a refugee rights rally at Kangaroo Point

He had been charged with contravening the direction of a police officer after protesting against the detention of asylum seekers at an apartment complex.

Cr Sri said he was still awaiting an apology for being held in a cell for several hours.