Martin Bryant Sorry Day is to be observed on the 22nd November every year, commemorating the fateful day in 1996 when an intellectually impaired young Australian was sentenced to life imprisonment without trial, for thirty-five murders he did not commit at Port Arthur. In the words of Chief Justice Cox: “On each of the thirty-five counts of murder in this indictment you are sentenced to imprisonment for the term of your natural life. I order that you not be eligible for parole in respect of any such sentence”.
    All responsible and caring Australians are asked to print a copy of this apology, sign it personally, and then forward it to Martin Bryant on 22 November each year at the following address:-
Prisoner Martin Bryant, Hospital Wing, Risdon Prison, Risdon Vale, Tasmania 7016, Australia. Send a second signed copy of this apology to your Member of Parliament.
   Concerned Australians who have the time and organisational skills, are further asked to arrange public meetings in all Australian State capital cities and country centres, on the Sunday closest to 22 November [This year Sunday 18 November 2001]. Use all legal methods to bring Bryant's plight to the attention of the public and media, and insist that justice be seen to be done. Politicians must be made to understand they will pay a heavy price for the hundreds of letters they have already received, but deliberately chosen to ignore in flagrant defiance of the expressed will of their constituents.
   Sorry Day ribbons can be made out of any suitable sky-blue fabric, chosen to represent the wide open spaces and clear skies that Martin once loved so much, but is now prevented from seeing. Wear yours with pride, and make extra ribbons to give to friends and relatives if you can. 

                                        
An Apology From Australians
                                   To Martin Bryant


   We are sorry your rights as a remand prisoner were blatantly abused, resulting in illegal strict solitary confinement from April to November 1996, defined by Amnesty International as “Psychological Torture”
   We are sorry that the acute stress induced by this prolonged cruel and illegal punishment, eventually forced you in desperation to plead “guilty” to crimes that fresh evidence conclusively prove you were not guilty of, and did not commit.
   We are sorry the Tasmanian Crown Law Department deliberately failed to provide you with a qualified guardian, essential in your case to protect you from “defence” lawyers appointed by your financial trustees, not by yourself.
   We are sorry that the Chief Justice of Tasmania decided to allow your “defence” lawyer to agree to a censored version of your interrogation being admitted as evidence against you, when the complete document would have revealed your innocence of the charges laid against you in the indictment.
   We are sorry the mental health care professionals tasked with your evaluation while in custody, failed on the written record to actually ask if you were guilty of the crimes of which you stood accused. Because of this glaring and completely unacceptable omission, all involved are thus guilty of professional misconduct, and guilty of violating their respective codes of ethics.
   We are sorry that the Tasmanian Attorney General of the day, and his successor, both failed utterly in their sworn duty as “Protector of the Public Interest”. You are a member of the public Martin, and the Attorneys General failed to protect you as required by law.
   We are sorry the media networks vilified you from the outset, “proving” you guilty of the mass murder without a shred of evidence. We are even more sorry they indulged themselves shamelessly in emotional social engineering designed to direct mass hatred against you. By engaging in this obscene process they  undermined not only you, but also Australian national security.
   We are sorry that several Australian "Human Rights Groups" including Amnesty have declined to assist you in writing, some citing the incredible excuse that because you are an Australian they cannot intervene. On their own track records, most of the human rights organizations in this country have demonstrated they are interested only in interfering in the internal affairs of other sovereign nations, or assisting illegal immigrants to "overcome" Australian immigration laws. 
   As concerned Australians, we assure you that we will not rest until the gross abuse of power and justice demonstrated in your case is corrected, and you are allowed a proper trial before your peers.
   May you be granted the inner strength and courage needed to cope with the harsh conditions during your illegal incarceration, until we can properly secure your release.


SIGNED      _______________________

NAME         _______________________

ADDRESS   _______________________     (Leave blank if preferred)




                                                                      
Written by
                                                                                               Joe Vialls
                                                                                             Carine, 2001


                                        
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Martin Bryant Sorry Day
22 November
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