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Tasmania

After 200 years, a 'brutal' hanging is being marked

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  • The deaths of two Aboriginal men have been commemorated in Hobart on the 200th anniversary of their execution.
  • Two centuries have now passed since a pair of Aboriginal men were hanged in the centre of Hobart, in what a historian described as a "brutal" display in front of a crowd of onlookers.
  • Naomi Parry Duncan, a historian who has spent decades researching this period of Tasmania's past, said the arrests came amid a "wave of attacks" between colonists and Aboriginals.
  • Dr Duncan said the trial would have been "very unfair", as the two men would have spoken little English and would not have been able to defend themselves.
  • Bob Brown, former leader of the Tasmanian Greens, said the hangings marked a "shameful episode" in the state's history which should be acknowledged.

5 sentences from our version of the report, chosen to cover it. Nothing here is written; every line is in the article below. How

The two men were arrested on the state's east coast following a stockkeeper being speared to death in the 1820s. Jack was crying and protesting loudly while Dick had to be tied to a chair as he was unable to walk due to a skin condition, according to Dr Duncan.

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All two things this headline claims are in the report.

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The deaths of two Aboriginal men have been commemorated in Hobart on the 200th anniversary of their execution.

A historian says the "brutal" display came after an "unfair" trial where the men would not have been unable to defend themselves.

Two centuries have now passed since a pair of Aboriginal men were hanged in the centre of Hobart, in what a historian described as a "brutal" display in front of a crowd of onlookers.

The two men were arrested on the state's east coast following a stockkeeper being speared to death in the 1820s.

Naomi Parry Duncan, a historian who has spent decades researching this period of Tasmania's past, said the arrests came amid a "wave of attacks" between colonists and Aboriginals.

Documents from the time showed the two men were put on trial in the Supreme Court in 1826, with an all-white jury of military and ex-military officers finding them guilty.

Dr Duncan said the trial would have been "very unfair", as the two men would have spoken little English and would not have been able to defend themselves.

Dr Duncan said the incident, which resulted in Aboriginal people leaving Hobart, showed "the way that justice went" during colonial times.

A commemoration marking the 200th anniversary of the hangings was held on Thursday at the entrance to Hobart's Treasury, across the road from where the deaths occurred.

Bob Brown, former leader of the Tasmanian Greens, said the hangings marked a "shameful episode" in the state's history which should be acknowledged.

Shortened to 1 minute of reading, this version reads 12 on the Niral Score.

You are reading our version, not theirs. This is ABC News's report shortened to its most important sentences, in plainer words, with verdicts and loaded words taken out. Plain description stays, and so do adjectives that carry a fact, such as "former" or "federal". The reporting, the facts and the quotations are theirs — quotations are never edited — and the indicators beside it measure this version. Hover or tap Adjectives to see every one left in the text.

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Outlet Niral ScoreAdjectivesSourcingSentiment
ABC Newsas they published this story 16 6 79 -0.3
Mundane Readneutralized from ABC News 13.8 5 79 -0.2

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