On Friday morning, prosecutors at the Melbourne Magistrates Court presented most of the people appearing on charges relating to last year’s G20 protest with documents informing them that, despite not having been convicted of any crime, they were not welcome in APEC security areas.

As the bail conditions of the Victorian accused prevent them from leaving the state, this was unlikely to be an issue.

The fate of a Sydney resident who was flying home after the hearing – and thus into the restricted airport zone – is unknown.

One of the restricted persons has given Crikey permission to publish their letter, noting that although it is marked “private and confidential,” the NSW police have seen fit to leak the names of the restricted persons to the media.

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Meanwhile, outside the court, an activist was arrested in a fairly heavy-handed fashion after he tried to put a pocket knife and nail clippers in somebody’s bag so he could enter the court. A scuffle broke out, and among the injured was Socialist Party activist Anthony Main, who alleges he brutally attacked a baton eight to ten times with his forearm.

He later approached the police with a view to pressing assault charges, and was informed that if he did so he would be charged with hindering police. He told Crikey this morning that he is yet to receive a summons, but he doesn’t believe the police have a case against him.

The Daily Telegraph reports this morning of a “clandestine anarchist action” dubbed FLARE in the Void, and claims that their manual “openly declares an intent to commit violence.”

The manual contains practical advice regarding how to avoid the debilitating effects of tear gas and pepper spray and even tells how to evade public transport fares. If jumping the turnstile isn’t an open declaration of street warfare, what is?

Your fearless riot reporter attended (as a detached observer) a Direct Action training workshop yesterday afternoon – organised by the same people who will be running similar workshops at FLARE in the Void – and is unhappy to report that plots of violence were not discussed.

A small group planning to travel to Sydney later in the week discussed the best way to help somebody who has been pepper-sprayed, Fred Nile’s comments on Channel Nine’s Sunday program regarding small metal balls with spikes which could puncture car tyres (they don’t actually exist, but one protester commented that they would be a good idea), and how to maintain a human chain. This last part involved a practical component, in which different people took turns at being police and attempted to drag people away from the chain.

Although the police were only successful on one occasion, it was noted that if the batons had been real (and not rolled up posters) the police may have been more successful.