Vol. 76/No. 14      April 9, 2012

The prosecution—which has until April 18 to declare whether they will retry on this charge—failed to persuade the jury that the four political activists had organized military training to prepare for violent acts in support of land and sovereignty claims by the Tuhoe iwi, one of several Maori tribes.

While the jury was “hung” on the central charge and found the defendants not guilty on several firearm possession charges, it convicted each of them on other charges of illegal possession of firearms and restricted weapons.

Convictions under the Arms Act carry a maximum sentence of four years in prison and NZ$5,000 fine ($4,100). One of the defendants, Urs Signer, a Swiss-born resident, could face deportation. Sentencing will take place May 24.

“We are victorious in spite of the trouble brought upon us,” said Tame Iti following the verdict, as he and Emily Bailey, Rangi Kemara and Signer emerged from the High Court building to cheers from supporters.

“The whole case is a stitch-up from start to finish, based on illegal evidence,” Valerie Morse told Militant reporters outside the court. Morse is a spokesperson for October 15th Solidarity, which campaigns to defend the four.

“It’s a victory for Tuhoe,” said Anaru, a member of the iwi, a number of whom had traveled to Auckland to attend court hearings.

The frame-up dates back to a police surveillance operation that began in 2006. On Oct. 15, 2007, more than 300 police officers raided some 60 homes across the country, arresting 18 people. In the single biggest attack of this “Operation 8,” heavily armed police laid siege to the Maori town of Ruatoki in the Urewera region, homeland of Tuhoe.

The police claimed that military training camps had been set up over the previous year. Using material from video surveillance and bugs on houses, cars and telephones—placed with warrants under the 2002 Terrorism Suppression Act—they claimed that the camps constituted a “terrorist threat.”

However, in face of protests throughout the country, the solicitor general ruled in November 2007 that he would not authorize charges under the terrorism law. So the police pressed criminal group charges under the Arms Act, singling out Iti and the three others—plus a fifth, Tuhoe Lambert, who died before the case was brought to court.

In September 2011 the Supreme Court ruled that police evidence had been illegally obtained and could not be used against those facing arms charges only. The decision led to the dropping of the charges against 13 defendants. In the same breath, however, the court ruled that the illegal evidence could be used against the four others because of the more serious charges against them.

During the five-week trial, the prosecution depended heavily on cop testimony involved in the surveillance operation. Crown Prosecutor Ross Burns alleged the four were preparing unspecified criminal actions should negotiations fail with the government over the return of land in the Urewera National Park to the tribe.

To buttress this picture of a violent “Plan B,” the jury was shown brief video footage from cameras placed secretly in the Urewera bush. Extracts were taken from hours of Internet discussions and exchanges of text messages, with reference to the political views of the defendants.

According to the daily report on the Scoop news website, Burns—having said that the defendants were not being prosecuted for their political beliefs—noted in his introductory remarks that “one defendant was found with a book about the Mexican Zapitista [sic] movement and another about Che Guevara.”

In defense testimony, Tuhoe spokesperson Tamati Kruger stressed Tame Iti’s role in the broader Tuhoe fight to regain part of their former lands, which were confiscated by the government in the 1860s. Kruger said that the existence of camps helping people gain bushcraft and other skills was nothing new and was no secret, and that firearms are a common sight in the rural area.

In his summation, Rangi Kemara’s lawyer, Jeremy Bioletti, said, “Nothing happened because there is no plan B. There is only Plan A” of support for the broader Tuhoe struggle.

The New Zealand Herald reported March 21 that prosecution of the Urewera Four is “believed to be the most expensive police case and trial in New Zealand history, up to as much as $2.5 million.”  
 
 
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