Sydney Twelve

The Sydney Twelve (German: Sydney-Zwölf ) were twelve members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), a transnational union whose influence is concentrated in the USA, Great Britain, Canada and Australia. The Sydney Twelve were arrested in Sydney , Australia on September 23, 1916 , for treason, arson and forgery under the Felony Act of 1848 . They have been charged, convicted, and sentenced to long imprisonment on the basis of flimsy evidence. After a change of government from the National Party to the Australian Labor Party in 1920, which ordered a judgment review, all twelve of them were released.

arrest

It is widely believed in the Australian labor movement that the men were persecuted for their testimony and struggle against World War I and their opposition to conscription in Australia . Former Prime Minister of the Australian Labor Party and later nationalist Billy Hughes hastened the Unlawful Associations Act (1916) through the federal parliament within five days during December 1916, after which the government was able to declare the IWW an illegal association.

The indictment against the Sydney Twelve was fueled by the government's hysteria against the IWW and the situation during World War I. This became clear in the case of the so-called Tottenham murder of police constable Duncan in Tottenham , New South Wales on September 26, 1916, in which three members of the IWW (Frank Franz, Roland Nicholas Kennedy and Herbert Kennedy) were indicted. Law enforcement constructed links between the Sydney Twelve and the Sydney IWW in the murder. Defendants Frank Franz and Roland Nicholas Kennedy were convicted of murder and executed in Bathurst Prison on December 20, 1916, the first execution in New South Wales in ten years. Herbert Kennedy was acquitted.

The Sydney Twelve were John Hamilton , Peter Larkin , Joseph Fagin , William Teen , Donald Grant , Benjamin King , Thomas Glynn , Donald McPherson , Thomas Moore , Charles Reeve , William Beattie, and Bob Besant . You have been charged and convicted. Judge Pains' sentences for Hilton, Beatty, Fagin, Grant, Teen, Glynn, and McPherson were 15 years in prison, 10 years for Moore, Besant, Larkin, and Reeve, and five years for King. Grant noted after the verdict was pronounced, "Fifteen years for fifteen words."

There has been an active campaign against the prison sentences of the Sydney Twelve and other IWW members in prison, such as Tom Barker . A Defense and Liberation Committee was set up at the instigation of Henry Boats, editor of the Australian Workers' Union weekly newspaper The Worker , and Ernest Judd, delegate of the Municipal Workers Union on Labor Council of New South Wales . Supporters of the committee were Percy Brookfield from Broken Hill , a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly , and the writer Lesbia Harford . The trade unions of the Ship Painters and Dockers Union were also active in this campaign.

The Labor Council of New South Wales published a report on the case in 1918, and union lawyers were involved in the investigation. The reports uncovered irregularities, for example the lead witness Scully had given incorrect information in court.

Reversal of judgment

After John Storey was elected Prime Minister by the Australian Labor Party on March 20, 1920 in New South Wales, Judge Norman Ewing was appointed to investigate the case and the verdict. The judge found that Grant, Beattie, Larkin and Glynn were involved in a conspiracy of a seditious nature, but that they recommended not carrying it out. Six of the men could by no means be convicted of a conspiracy in the legal sense, the judge found: These were Teen, Hamilton, McPherson, Moore, Besant and Fagin. King had been convicted of the conspiracy, but had also advised against carrying it out. Reeve had been convicted of arson in the process. However, the judge, However, who pronounced the verdicts, overlooked the fact that Reeve had refused to enforce it. Ten of the men were released in August 1920, and King and Reeve shortly afterwards.

Working-class culture

Folk singer Andy Irvine composed a song in memory of the Sydney Twelve, called Gladiators , which was recorded on in March 2001.

literature

• Rushton, PJ (1973). The trial of the Sydney Twelve: The original charge . Labor History 25, 53-57. Retrieved March 27, 2010.
• Turner, Ian. (1969). Sydney's Burning (An Australian Political Conspiracy) .
• Wyner, Issy. (2003). My Union Right or Wrong. A history of the Ship Painters and Dockers Union 1900-1932 . Retrieved March 27, 2010.

Individual evidence

1. ^ The Tottenham Tragedy: Roland Kennedy and Frank Franz, Two Australian IWW workers executed in 1916 . Retrieved March 27, 2010
2. ↑ Andy Irvine, Gladiators (lyrics) ( Memento of the original from February 13, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved March 28, 2010.