They accused police of kidnapping, but felt like they were put on trial. Now the ‘Pinkenba Six’ boys are speaking out

In the early hours of a cold morning in May 1994, three Aboriginal boys were placed into separate police vehicles by six officers in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley.

Though they hadn’t committed a crime, the boys — aged 12, 13 and 14 — were driven to the swampy industrial suburb of Pinkenba, 12 kilometres from the CBD.

A wide-ranging suppression order means the ABC cannot identify anyone involved in the case.

“They took [the 13-year-old] up to the bridge, and they said they was gonna throw him off, and then we heard a splash,” the youngest of the three, now 38, told the Thin Black Line podcast.

“I thought it was him — and I just started shaking then.”

Police denied threatening the boys — either to make them get into the cars or while at…