Forest activist Ali Alishah pledges to return to protests after release from Risdon Prison
“Any laws that are put in place that try to deter people from protecting Tasmania’s forests won’t work.” Activist Ali Alishah, the first person jailed under new protest laws, has been released.
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Forest protestor Ali Alishah has just spent three months in Risdon Prison – and he’s not afraid to go back.
The 40-year-old was released from jail on Friday morning after he was arrested at the Styx Valley in February, having attached himself by the neck to an excavator with a bike lock.
Alishah was the first person jailed in Tasmania under the state government’s controversial new protest laws, and just the second forest activist to serve time in a Tasmanian prison in the past decade.
Following his release on Friday, Alishah told journalists he was “absolutely” willing to go back to jail if need be.
“I can assure you it’s had absolutely no effect as far as deterring me in taking direct action to protect Tasmania’s forests, and in particular the forests of the Styx Valley, which are very dear to me and which are entirely irreplaceable,” he said.
“I was undeterred by the passing of the anti-protest laws in parliament.
“There is simply no reason to be logging Tasmania’s native forests anymore. So any laws that are put in place that try to deter people from protecting Tasmania’s forests won’t work.
“They simply won’t work. It’s a waste of taxpayer resources, it’s a waste and it’s a burden on the correctional system.”
Alishah, who pleaded guilty to two counts of trespass, said his protests had been “entirely peaceful”.
He said he wanted to thank his fellow inmates at Risdon Prison, “for their support and their kindness towards me while I was incarcerated”.
While commenting on chronic understaffing within the jail, Alishah said his time behind bars was “relatively peaceful”.
Alishah said he was locked up in the minimum security Ron Barwick section of Risdon Prison for most of his jail term, other than when he was sent to maximum security while staging a hunger strike.
Alishah said he was planning on engaging in forest protests again soon – and might soon take part helping defend a “very significant coupe” in the state’s northwest.
“I believe it’s incumbent upon us to stand up for Tasmania’s forests,” he said.
Veteran environmentalist Bob Brown said on the day in question, he and fellow protestor Collete Harmsen had been taken in the “same paddy wagon” with Alishah to Bridgewater police station.
He said the message Alishah’s case sent out to others was “don’t give up”.
“We’re a hope-giving organisation in a sea of destruction. The message is, we’re getting stronger, come with us.”
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Originally published as Forest activist Ali Alishah pledges to return to protests after release from Risdon Prison
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