[NYTr] Aussie TV stunt crew detained over breaching APEC security zone

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

sent by Dave Muller (southnews)
 

AAP - Sep 6, 2007

11 Chaser crew held over APEC stunt

By Warwick Stanley

ELEVEN crew from the ABC TV comedy show The Chaser have been detained
by police after staging a fake motorcade through Sydney as part of an
APEC week stunt.

The team from the satirical TV program The Chaser's War on Everything 
were in a convoy of three cars and two motorbikes which was reportedly 
ushered through two checkpoints in Sydney's APEC security "red" zone.

The convoy was pulled over in Macquarie Street on a block adjacent to 
the InterContinental Hotel, where US President George W Bush is a guest 
during the APEC summit.

The ABC said Chaser stars Julian Morrow and Chas Licciardello were 
detained late this morning following the stunt near the hotel.

Chaser members said they had dressed up a convoy to look like an 
official Canadian motorcade, on a day during which a number of official 
motorcades crossed the city.

Southern Cross radio reported that the convoy carrying the Chaser team 
passed "through two checkpoints around the hotel before one of the 
Chaser pranksters jumped out (dressed) as Osama Bin Laden".

"They had been waved through, they had three cars ... big black 
Hummer-style cars decked out with Canadian flags on the front," a 
reporter said.

"A couple of Chaser team members were in the back of each of these cars 
and rest of the team were dressed up as bodyguards.

"As many as 11 people were detained and two of those were Chaser team 
members."

Chaser team member Chris Taylor told a Fairfax website the motorcade 
comprised "three cars, a couple of motorbikes, and a lot of crew".

He said the Chaser convoy had Canadian flags attached to the cars and 
"Canada" signs visible in the front windscreen.

"No particular reason we chose Canada," Taylor said.

"We just thought they'd be a country who the cops wouldn't scrutinise 
too closely, and who feasibly would only have three cars in their 
motorcade - as opposed to the 20 or so gas guzzlers that Bush has 
brought with him."

He said the motorcade had been allowed into the red zone, past two sets 
of gates, before being pulled over on the corner of Bridge and
Macquarie streets.

Taylor said Morrow and Licciardello had been taken to Surry Hills
police station, and police confirmed the pair had been arrested for
breaching the restricted zone.

Chaser crew members had initially been detained in their cars while 
"police on the ground" waited for special units to arrive, Taylor said.

ABC spokesman Peter Ritchie said ABC lawyers and management were in 
discussions with police.

"They were shooting for the program, they were at the hotel, police 
detained them and ABC lawyers and management are with the boys," Mr 
Ritchie said.

Southern Cross radio said "security services went crazy when they 
realised something had gone wrong".

"They very quickly detained these people," a reporter said.

Authorities have warned there will be a presumption against bail for 
people arrested in the APEC security zone.

"The simple message that everybody needs to understand is that if you 
misconduct yourself during the APEC period in a security zone, there is 
a jail bed waiting for you," Attorney-General John Hatzistergos said 
last week.

The Chaser's War on Everything resumed on ABC TV last night and
included a number of stunts aimed at testing APEC security.

Morrow told News Ltd last weekend the Chaser team was planning
something "extreme" for APEC.

Chaser team members yesterday staged a stunt during an anti-APEC 
protest, with Taylor appearing as a police officer on a pantomime horse 
- a dig at the fact equine flu has prevented NSW police horses being 
used for APEC security.