Posts by George Darroch
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Ok, enough with the breathless hype already.
The question that must be asked, is, "do the "terrorism files" show the other side?"
They are the affidavits presented to a judge in order to get the search warrants that were executed on the 15th of October. As a consequence, they are a selection of juicy evidence that can be construed as presenting a case for search warrants. They aren't a complete or balanced summary - that's not what they are designed for.
But this distinction is being lost, here and elsewhere, in the midst of the high-volume hype. The police are waging a PR war here, having lost considerable ground in the last few weeks, and this contempting of court and justice through the release of selective evidence is the latest round. Unfortunately, it appears to have been taken almost uncritically by most. Including a large number of commenters here.
I don't make a distinction between the Police and the leaker(s) above, and that's deliberate. The Police are a pretty tight organisation, and I find it pretty hard to believe that this action won't have tacit support from most, including the senior ranks. That they've been abused and embarrassed by activists will just have stirred them, as there's little love from the police towards activists at the best of times.
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I have to say that I'm pretty pissed off by this. The police have leaked consistently in the last month, feeding juicy bits of information to the media - and now that they've failed to get a prosecution, they dump the whole thing in the media's lap in an act of pure revenge.
There is a culture of impunity in the police, and releasing information simply because you don't like someone, and you think they should have been convicted, when the courts have said otherwise, is simply disgraceful.
I wonder if this will see a fair trial possible under the Arms Act, or whether that may have to be dumped now to? (I have no idea about these matters, it's a genuine question)
And it appears Indymedia has suffered some kind of attack - it's offline...
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My laugh of the day, via Indymedia
Anonymous - We would have got better result [sic] if we were allowed to use waterboarding.
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And that same Parliament is passing ammendments to the dogs breakfast of a law, without pause.
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Reading the parliamentary debates surrounding the bill and amendments gives me little confidence in our elected representatives to deal with the issues, and even more respect for Keith Locke.
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Can I suggest that the throwing of the bomb was extremely well timed to focus the minds of politicians on the TSAA, against the 'woolly headed, Al Qaeda hugging' Keith Locke.
I doubt we'll ever know who threw it (thrown bombs seem to be found usually only when the police have credible information/suspects/tip-offs), so I'm not going to allege anything, but to say that we've lost just another bit of our democratic freedom today after the amendments were thoroughly voted down.
As usual, the National and ACT Parties are happy to protect our freedom to have elections bought, but nowhere to be seen on issues like this. And I have no idea what Labour is thinking. I fail to understand at all what rationale Labour MPs use. I would be genuinely interested to know.
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Oh, in response to those racist comments, which are a clear violation of posting policy, I should also mention that Aotearoa Indymedia has been struggling to moderate properly, as two of the three active admins are currently in custody, and the other is very busy trying to sort out things related to their arrest. See Aotearoa Indymedia needs your help
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And yet, this government and most of the opposition are currently introducing laws that are ambiguous enough to criminalise political dissent.
TSA 2nd reading - Keith Locke. I don't often agree with Rodney Hide, and rarely invoke the ghost of Muldoon, but it pains me to to think how this legislation could be used by him, or another leader. Taking the power to designate someone as a terrorist, and later review that designation, should not be taken from the courts and made the prerogative of the Prime Minister. Concentrating these powers in one set of hands does create a monolith.
Likewise, the rapid introduction of 'secret evidence' and 'special advocates' into our legal systems, as with this and the new refugee act, is a huge step away from an open and reviewable system to one where the state has a monopoly on the terms and conditions which someone's freedom depends, and no chances to challenge this.
With absolutely no disrespect to the majority of commenters here, I would suggest that your views on the how restrained the police are would be different if you had received the same kind of treatment that many of my friends who were at the demonstration yesterday have experienced in the last few years. Arbitrary arrests, functional assault, and blatantly one-sided policing aren't exceptions but the norm.
I also find it highly troubling when commenters use comparisons to countries where political freedom is highly restricted to point out the ability to freely act in New Zealand. That may well be the case, but I value the freedoms I have in New Zealand very highly, and every time these are chipped away at, their value decreases. Yes, we are one of the better countries in this regard, but please, lets not take this for granted.
</rant>
And finally, I heard that Jill Ovens had quite an effect on the crowd, lecturing them in what was perceived as quite a patronising manner, setting Len up for conflict with the crowd and particularly Jarrod. I'd say that Jarrod's refusal of an apology relates much more to the mutual offense towards Len joining with Labour, which is much more of a sticking point, and more offensive than a swipe with a megaphone.
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Re: Stephen's comment nope, that was someone else. Like everyone else, I'm just waiting, hoping the idle speculation can end sometime soon.
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One of the Wellington arrestees has just been released, and on hearing their name (still suppressed) I'm extremely surprised. This person is one of the nicest and most peaceful people I know. I'm not just saying that - I'm sure most people who've met them would say the same.
Personal anecdotes don't make someone innocent, but my level of incredulity towards all of this has just rocketed.