Pregnant mum arrested and charged for allegedly advocating against coronavirus lockdown in Australia

Zoe Buhler has been charged with using social media platforms to incite others to break pandemic restrictions by attending protests
Imogen Braddick3 September 2020

A pregnant woman was handcuffed by police in front of her children and led away in her pyjamas in Australia after allegedly inciting activists to demonstrate against the coronavirus lockdown.

Zoe Buhler's partner helped her livestream the arrest on Wednesday at her home where she lives with two children, aged three and four, in the Victoria state city of Ballarat. The video has been viewed millions of times.

The 28-year-old has since been charged with using social media platforms to incite others to break pandemic restrictions by attending demonstrations.

"The police could have given me a phone call and said, 'Look, you need to take down your event or you could be charged with a crime,' and I would have done that," she told reporters.

"It could have been as simple as that. You know, I'm not someone that would you know ever commit a crime or anything like that," she added.

Melbourne, the state capital, has been under unprecedented lockdown restrictions since early August.

A nighty curfew was imposed, while large parts of the economy were ordered to close to curb the spread of the virus.

Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius described handcuffing Ms Buhler as "entirely reasonable".

"The optics of arresting someone who is pregnant are terrible," he said.

Police have also arrested three men and charged them with inciting others to break pandemic restrictions over planned protests in Melbourne on Saturday.

Australia reported its biggest one-day rise in coronavirus cases in more than a week on Thursday, denting optimism that a stringent lockdown of its second-largest city will soon be lifted.

Authorities said 127 cases have been detected in the last 24 hours, up on the 109 cases recorded on Wednesday and the biggest one-day jump since August 28.

The World on Coronavirus lockdown

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The majority of the cases were detected in Victoria state which reported 113 new cases in the past 24 hours, despite the state capital, Melbourne, nearing the end of a six-week lockdown.

As result, state authorities said restrictions may have to continue beyond September 13.

"I can't rule out that we have to continue (with some) rules. I simply can't," state Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters in Melbourne.

New South Wales reported 12 cases, a day after it posted its biggest one-day spike in new infections for two weeks.

Queensland state accounted for the remaining two cases.