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Update on the so-called ‘anti-terror raids’ of October 2007

Wednesday, June 11, 2008 Source: NZ
Posted in Human Rights | Tagged Human Rights

This is an irregular update on the campaign to support the people arrested in the so-called ‘anti-terror’ raids in Aotearoa (New Zealand) on 15th October 2007. 3 more people were arrested on 19^th February 2008 and one on 17th April 2008. Although charges under the Terrorism Suppression Act were never laid, 20 people are still facing charges under the Arms Act and need your support.

:: ARTICLES and UPDATES

1. Punishment of activists continues
2. Tame Iti allowed to travel
3. One arrestee to be tried in Tauranga
4. Hikoi ano
5. Reading (between) The Lines…
6. Help with documentary
7. G20 court update

1. Punishment of activists continues

Since their arrest in October 2007, all of the people accused in the so-called ‘anti-terror raids’ have had non-association orders in place relating to each other. This means that friends and family members who are jointly charged in the case are not allowed to associate for any purpose. There have been several minor exceptions to this, but in the main, the defendants have been extremely isolated from the very people who could provide them with some support through this intensely difficult and emotionally trying time. These non-association orders have made it very difficult to organise a solidarity campaign and to
co-ordinate on-going legal matters.

In most cases, there is no evidential basis for the non-association orders; they are there simply to stop people talking to each other and a means by which the Crown can further punish these people. There has been some relaxation of the orders very recently which has been a great victory in a long journey to finally winning. Long-time friends and comrades who are now jointly charged in the case, Valerie Morse and Emily Bailey had their non-association order varied by consent of the Crown in the High Court in Wellington on Tuesday, 27 May. It allows limited association. An earlier order allows them to live
together at Tira Hou Marae during the depositions hearings set down for the entire month of September.

The two had gone to the court in the hope of having the entire restriction removed. However, the judge in the case was not willing to hear the case and has sent the women back to Justice Cooper in the Auckland High Court to hear the matter in full again. This judge had originally ruled in the case on the day of their release from prison in November. There was substantial confusion on the Crown side as to the precise nature of the non-association of Valerie Morse and her friend and co-accused Urs Signer which was part of the argument in the High Court. They tried to suggest that it was limited in nature. This was not the case, as decided by the District Court Judge in Auckland on 5 March, however, this judge failed to make an appropriate notation of it.

Needless to say, it was intensely frustrating as none of the lawyers present, nor the judge, have been present for ANY of the previous hearings. Thus all of the people with the power to present and decide on the case did not have a clear idea of what was actually going on.
Meanwhile the friends and supporters of the co-accused sat silently, with no opportunity to clarify a simple bureaucratic error on the part of the courts.

The women are now awaiting a date in the Auckland High Court. Nevertheless, the
Judge did indicate that the Crown’s position, given the allowance of the limited association, was fairly “absurd.” Fingers crossed!

2. Tame Iti allowed to travel

Tame Iti’s lawyer Annette Sykes announced that they have successfully secured Tame’s passport so that he can travel overseas. Tame is due to appear in a production of TEMPEST II in Italy and may travel to other European cities and Japan to do further performances. This is a major victory for the case as Tame can now continue his work in educating people worldwide about the struggle of Tūhoe.

Tempest is the performance of a staged hearing, within conditions of detention and loss of sovereign rights. The language of Tempest is dance and its oratory signals the rebirth of an indigenous voice in the telling of the shifting conditions of political right, from the scientific journey to witness the transit of Venus that coincided with colonial conquest, to the current geopolitics of the Pacific reflecting the wider post 9/11 global community.

The play also features on video the recently freed Algerian refugee Ahmed Zaoui who was detained for four years without trial in a New Zealand prison.

3. One arrestee to be tried in Tauranga

Raunatiri Hunt had a pre-depositions hearing on the 29th of May 2008 in the Tauranga District Court. Hunt was arrested on February 19^th 2008, in the second wave of arrests as part of ‘Operation 8.’ 20 defendants are currently facing joint charges under the Arms Act.
Raunatiri Hunt is the only one who successfully challenged the Crown in moving the depositions hearings to Auckland.

At a depositions hearing the crown has to prove that there is a case to answer, this is required before the trial. The depositions hearing for the other 19 defendants will begin on 1 September 2008 and be at least a month long. The defence has intimated that they need to be in both English and Māori. Raunatiri Hunt’s depositions hearing is scheduled for the 20th of November.

4. Hikoi ano

On the 14th of November 2007 Tūhoe carried out a hikoi to Wellington to protest
the raids and arrests just a month earlier. One of the drivers from that hikoi was summonsed to court in Porirua six months later, on charges of dangerous driving. On the 1st of May 2008, Porirua district court was packed with supporters both local, and Tūhoe who had traveled down specifically for the hearing. As it was the school holidays 8 kids had joined the 16 adults who came down for the hearing. The hearing itself took less time than the karakia, and another date was setdown for a follow-up hearing.

Although these are supposedly minor charges, two cops from the anti-terror squad came to the hearing. This shows that the dangerous driving charges are part of the on-going campaign to harass those who stand up and support Tūhoe.

5. Reading (between) The Lines…
Why you will always find what you are looking for or What the SIS and Police Reports tell us

Anyone who has worked in an academic research institute will be familiar with the annual problem of securing funding for the next year. On the one hand, the university finance committee, government department or whoever else is providing the money must get the
impression that last year’s funding was a good investment, while at the same time they must be convinced to continue. The annual report then usually indicates that the department is on the verge of a major discovery or has at least made huge progress, but to get really conclusive results, another year’s worth of work, preferably with more staff and resources is required.

It’s no surprise then that the Police and New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (SIS) work the same way. In the aftermath of 9/11 the budgets of both were drastically increased. Attempts to convince the public that Algerian refugee Ahmed Zaoui was such an enormous
threat to the country that he had to be deported failed. The deportation in 2006 of a Yemeni national who was deemed a security risk also failed to get the desired public hysteria and fear of terrorists. Eventually, spending all that money and hiring new people
has to be justifi ed. After all, who would want to lose the new Special Tactics Group, a Specialist Search Group, a Strategic Intelligence Unit and a National Bomb Data Centre Manager?

Predictably the SIS reports regularly contain statements like: “Although the Service is not aware of a specific terrorist threat against New Zealand, we cannot afford to be complacent. Increasing vigilance is required” (2004/2005) or “While the Service continues to believe that the risk of a terrorist attack on New Zealand or New Zealand interests is low[…], we cannot afford to be complacent.” (2005/2006)

But what has been really going on? The SIS is a bit tight-lipped. In other countries the ‘intelligence community’ is far more verbose. For example, the German Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution) issues an annual report of almost 300 pages with detailed sections on “right-wing extremism, left-wing extremism, Islamic terrorism, extremist organisations of foreigners (not Islamic), espionage and Scientology.” And that’s just on the federal level, each state then issues its own, even more detailed report.

So without that level of detail available here in Aotearoa, we have to look a bit more carefully. There were actually hints that the Police and the SIS thought they were on to something for some time. Since 2007, the SIS has been mentioning the ‘process of radicalisation’ as a new area of investigation, while being very vague about actual results.

The Police reports provide more substance. In 2004, “Th e Strategic Intelligence Unit has participated in a range of training scenarios to ensure their skills are developed and maintained to a high level”. For 2005 the report states that “Special Investigation Groups, whose work is to complement that of the Strategic Intelligence Unit and the overseas liaison officer network, were established in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch in January 2005. These groups are dedicated to the investigation of national security- related crime
including terrorism.” While back in 2001 national security wasn’t even mentioned, by 2005 several specially trained groups are dedicated to investigating it. The report for the 2006/07 period then reveals that “Police were involved in four regional policing operations that had
potential implications for New Zealand’s national security in a regional context. […] The National Strategic Intelligence Unit has produced a number of strategic and tactical reports on issues related to national security. This reporting has led to targeted investigations in New Zealand in conjunction with other enforcement and intelligence agencies.” The Special Investigation Groups that were treated the previous year are reported to be “principally involved in the investigation.”

The pattern here seems to be that first, new legislation is introduced that gives the Police and the SIS vast amount of power to go on fishing expeditions. These organisations then sharpen their view by organising training and subsequently create a number of specialist
groups. These groups monitor phones, bug cars and install cameras to gather information on activists until they find something to investigate. Th e results are then assessed by the same people who provided the training.

Ross Meurant, former police officer and head of the Red Squad in the 1981 Springbok tour, describes it: “Police say they have collated information over a period of 12 months which on analysis leads them to the conclusion that there is a real threat to the stability and security of our country. Th e problem as I see it is, that information they have has been self assessed by the same people who collate the data or, at best, by the supervisor of the “intelligence unit” and his superior; all of whom view society from within the forest [=police culture] and with vested interests in producing an outcome which justifies the retention of their unit. These subjective conclusions are presented to judicial officers as the basis of justification for
warrants and implementation of anti terror legislation which abrogate the most basic of our legal rights.”

It seems reasonable to assume that ‘Operation Eight’ (which led to the arrests of October 15) was one of the four investigations mentioned in the 2006/7 Police report, and it’s probably related to the other three. Th e targets were Ngāi Tūhoe and others who supported Tino Rangatiratanga, a political concept that  threatens the State.
This made it easy for the Police and SIS to sell their story of a real terrorist threat without providing much substance and the mainstream media had a feast. But after a month, the terrorism conspiracy collapsed. What remains are long court cases and the emotional scars
of the raids. It’s still worth (between) reading the lines.

6. Help with documentary

Matthew Donaldson is making “documentary perspective piece on some of those who had their houses raided, and I’ve tried to get footage of the 128 break in from TV3 but they refuse to supply it. I was hoping there might be a keen young artist out there, who can realistically re-create the scene from screen shots (attached) by producing drawings
which will be used in the documentary. Koha available for the best usable drawings. I’m also looking for Newspaper headlines from around the October 15 raids, and am hoping people who have saved those newspapers can photograph headlines and email them to me.”

The film is almost ready and Matt would like to screen it around Aotearoa and the world. If you can help organise a screening in your town, get in touch with Matt: mdmd(at)paradise.net.nz

7. G20 court update

The 13 defendants whose charges have not yet been dealt with in relation to the G20 protests in Melbourne in November 2006 were in court again today. They face charges such as riot, affray, aggravated burglary and assault.The prosecution is seeking imprisonment for the defendants.

Their appearance was for an administrative hearing. The judge wanted to determine the possible length of their trials, in addition to which charges might be tried together. The defendants also succeeded in having their reporting conditions loosened to reporting only once per month and out of state defendants were excused from attending further
administrative hearings.

One of the accused, Gabriel Shanks, was given permission to return to New Zealand to live with family in Christchurch until the date of the trial. The prosecution sought to have $40,000 to $50,000 surety provided before this move could happen, but the judge deemed that was excessive and that surety would be $10,000.

The trial was estimated to take at most three months, and the date given for proceedings to start is 30 June, 2009. The defendants next appearance is 1 July when draft presentments will be given. It looks as though there will be at least three or four separate trials held,
with some of the smaller matters perhaps being tried prior to the set trial date.

More: http://indymedia.org.nz/newswire/display/75496/index.php and
http://www.afterg20.org

:: RESOURCES

There are poster, newsletters and leaflets available here:
http://october15thsolidarity.info/en/node/236

:: LINKS

www.October15thSolidarity.info | www.indymedia.org.nz | www.tuhoe.net
| www.gpja.org.nz | www.civilrightsdefence.org.nz

 

:: UPCOMING EVENTS

== Wellington/Te Whanganui a Tara ==

1. Benefit Gig: Saturday, 14 June 2pm at the Adelaide, featuring
Panda/Battle/Battle/Panda, Dyke Dyke Dyke, Cop Car, Feminazis, Snowfi
eld. $5!

2. Kapa Haka Kura Tuarua-Motu Te Wharekura o Ruatoki: Wednesday, 18
June, 11-11:30am, Te Papa Tongarewa Marae. Awesome kapa haka from Te
Urewera

3. Indymedia Film Nights: Friday/Saturday 13/14 June 7pm ‘Tūhoe:
A history of resistance’ and a short film about the 2004 Foreshore and
Seabed hikoi, Film Archive Ghuznee/Taranaki Sts

4. Solidarity Crew Organising meetings: Fortnightly from 10 June at Th
istle Hall, Cuba Street at 6pm

== Raglan/Whaingaroa ==

1. Film screening: 24 June 7:30pm, ‘Tūhoe: A history of
resistance’ at the The Old School Arts Centre, Stewart Street

2. Film screening: 8 June 7:30pm, Patu at the The Old School Arts
Centre, Stewart Street

== Auckland/Tamaki Makaurau ==

1. Solidarity Crew organising meeting: Wednesday, 10 June, 6:30pm
outside St. Kevins Arcade, K Road.

2. Bastion Point: The Exhibition: 30 Years On Heritage Floor - Level
2, Central City Library. A tribute to those who demonstrated their
concerns with

:: DONATIONS

If you would like to make a donation, check out
http://www.october15thsolidarity.info/donate for details of the
various funds.