Liberate

After the Police “anti-terrorism” raids in Aotearoa / New Zealand on October 15th, 2007, where 17 Tino Rangatiratanga and anarchist activists were arrested and threatened with terrorism charges (see http://www.october15solidarity.info), activists across the country braced themselves for further raids and arrests. While these took some time to manifest, on February 19th, Police made three further arrests and brought more people in for questioning.

19 people now face charges of unlawfully possessing various firearms and molotov cocktails, while 1 faced cannabis charges, which have already been dealt with in court. 18 of the Arms Act arrestees appeared in the Auckland District Court on March 5th, while the 19th has successfully managed to have his case heard in his home town rather than it being heard in conjunction with the others in Auckland.

The purpose of the March 5th hearing was primarily to set dates and adjust bail conditions, and in this, some small victories were accomplished by the defence team. All 18 arrestees had their bail conditions adjusted so that they only have to report to the Police once a week instead of twice, although this is still a huge financial hardship for some who live in rural areas and have to pay around NZ$40 in petrol each week to drive to the nearest station. Some arrestees also had oppressive curfews and non-association orders dropped.

From here, there will be at least two more “call-over” hearings, which only the lawyers will attend, before the two big dates by July 5th, the Crown must submit all “briefs of evidence” to the court, detailing the evidence they hold against each arrestee, allowing the arrestees to plan their defence. Then, on September 1st, the depositions hearing will begin. During depositions, the Crown presents their evidence, after which the Judge will determine which, if any, of the charges have sufficient evidence to require a trial. This is currently set down for the entire month of September, although some of the lawyers believe it could take anything up to 10 weeks.

Solidarity Is Strength!

Significant financial support is needed for the arrestees. Just 5 of the 19 Arms Act arrestees live in Auckland, meaning that the other 12 (and their whanau and friends) need to pay extensive travel, food and accommodation costs for the length of the hearings, during which time they will obviously not be able to work. Additionally, some of the arrestees have got back little to nothing of what was confiscated by Police as potential evidence from their homes, and some came out of jail with little more than the clothes on their back.

Bank account details for donations can be found at http://www.october15solidarity.info/en/donate.

The October15thSolidarity.info crew have an infopack available for any individuals or groups wanting to organise solidarity activities. If you email info@october15solidarity.info, they will mail you a CD with a Powerpoint presentation, films and fliers you can use. There is also a benefit CD available, called Tu Kotahi – Freedom Fighting Anthems, from http://freedomfighterscd.org.nz. The CD contains music donated by some of Aotearoa’s top musicians, and spoken word from Tame Iti, one of the arrestees.

October15thSolidarity.info is also attempting to have the articles and background information on the website translated in an effort to broaden the connection between all of our struggles internationally. Some German and French translations are already available, but if you can help out with these or any other languages, please email info@october15solidarity.info.

Background

For more information on the raids and aftermath, see:

State Repression in Aotearoa / New Zealand http://www.october15solidarity.info/node/218

Land of the Long White Lie: The New Zealand Terror Raids (by one of the arrestees)
http://www.october15solidarity.info/node/254