Far Left Mobilises Against "Terrorist" Arrests

After an initial period of shock, The far left is mobilising against this week’s “terrorism” arrests


From Socialist Worker’s UnityBlog

Over 100 people attended an emergency meeting called by GPJA over the arrests of political activists and the threatened use of the undemocratic terrorism laws against them. It was agreed to oppose the use of these laws, call for the release on bail of the defendants before any trial, help raise money to provide help assure legal support is available.

We also called on supporters of civil rights across the country to support a national day of action on Saturday October 27. The next GPJA forum will be focussed on the issues raised as well.

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5 thoughts on “Far Left Mobilises Against "Terrorist" Arrests

  1. Anon-I have no illusions about the NZ police and have posted before on how to improve them.

    I don’t in any way condone unnecessary police violence.

    However, I support the police as a matter of principle.

  2. just to correct i wasnt pepper sprayed when assaulted by detective callum mc neil at the anarchist conference.

    however i was punched several times and pushed face first into the footpath outside and then kneed in the back.

  3. The cops fuck up often. When the cops fuck up their charges, the courts are there to sort it out. Most activists who have been wrongfully arrested are found not guilty by the courts or have their charges dropped by the police. Even if that happens, it is still a huge inconvenience being arrested, locked up for several hours (or days, months, even years) then deal with the legal system over several months (or years).

    Even if an arrestee is found not guilty or has their charges dropped, making a formal complaint is unlikely to make a difference. This is because the so called ‘Independent Police Complaints Authority’ is not an independent entity to the police force. The police essentially handle their own complaints. Thousands of complaints are made each year yet only a few ever get followed up. Heads don’t roll as easily as they do in other professions.

    The police are rarely held accountable for their actions and have been known to abuse their power when dealing with activists. I don’t like how several news papers have treated everything said by the police as factual.

    I believe that there is a lot of collateral damage to this event that could have been avoided.

  4. The simultaneous aspect of the arrests has struck fear into the activist community. The simultaneous aspect has tarred many unrelated groups with the same brush. Activists play an important role in spreading awareness of and stifling the unethical activities made by those in positions of power. The police and probably those above them are trying to silence dissenting voices.

    Rights that would be expected in, and are important to a, democracy have been abused by the police. The arrestees have been denied bail and locked up for at least 5 days, despite the police commissioner admitting on television that he didn’t think any of those arrested posed a threat. One of those arrested is a 19 year old university student. He has been locked up in Mt Eden prison (not the remand area).

    More houses have been raided. An organic vegetable shop owner had his house raided for 4 hours based purely on his son in law having gone on holiday once with Tame Iti. The armed defenders stormed the property and confiscated several computers including the computer of a tourist who was staying there. The property was stormed while the guy’s wife and baby were there.

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