2007 New Zealand police raids

[9] According to then Prime Minister Helen Clark, one of the reasons police tried to lay charges under anti-terror legislation was because they could not use telephone interception evidence in prosecutions under the Arms Act.[19] The traditional land of Ngāi Tūhoe is Te Urewera in the eastern North Island, a steep, heavily forested area which includes Lake Waikaremoana.In 2013 the IPCA found that the police failed to properly take into account this historical and cultural context when planning the operation, and that this failure was unreasonable.[22] In December 2005, two hunters in the remote Urewera ranges came across a camp where they found armed men, some wearing balaclavas, who appeared to be training.[6] This led to police investigating a group of people in the Urewera area for over 18 months, some of whom had criminal records for assault and firearms offences and others who were known political activists.[25] During the course of Operation Eight, police lawfully obtained text messages suggesting that paramilitary training camps were being run in remote forest locations in the Urewera mountain ranges.The camps appeared to involve the use of weapons, explosives and Molotov cocktails, ambush exercises, patrolling drills and the practice of interrogation techniques.[28] The police decided to terminate Operation Eight in October 2007, after legal advice that the evidence obtained could support charges under the Terrorism Suppression Act.[41] It was unreasonable for police to fail to consider the likely effect on the community that would be caused by Armed Offenders Squad wearing full "black role" (a balaclava, body armour, flame retardant overalls, boots, and an equipment vest).[57] The man had attended the camp in the Urewera Range after an invitation from Tūhoe activists, according to a source close to him, but did not return after being "overwhelmed" and "a bit freaked out" by the military-style practices.They left behind a 20-page search warrant stating there was "reasonable ground for believing" there were items inside which were an offence relating to either "participating in a terrorist group", or the unlawful possession of firearms or restricted weapons.[62] With the Crown's support, media organisations including TVNZ, TV3 and Radio New Zealand challenged the continuing name suppression of two of the accused and sought to be permitted to take photographs during the hearing.On 31 October 2007 the High Court noted the "intense public interest" in the events and upheld the trial judge's decision to lift name suppression and permit photographs to be taken.[64] Four of the accused, including Iti, were also charged under section 98A of the Crimes Act 1961 with participating in an organised criminal group, which had a maximum penalty of imprisonment for five years.[76] The government had previously sought that the case be heard by a judge sitting alone, but agreed to a jury trial following the dismissal of the charges against the other thirteen defendants.[77] In court the prosecution said the four defendants were the ringleaders of the organised criminal group which trained for months to take military action against civilian targets in their cause for an independent Tūhoe nation, with Tāme Iti as leader.[82] The Māori Party condemned the raids, with Te Ururoa Flavell, the MP for Waiariki, criticising the police for putting a community in his electorate "under siege," referring to the roadblocks imposed in Ruatoki.[84] Co-leader Pita Sharples said the actions had violated the trust that has been developing between Maori and Pākehā and had set race relations back by a century.[86] The party later joined protests in Auckland to pressure the government to withdraw the Terrorism Suppression Act and called for those arrested to be released on bail.[87] By contrast, New Zealand First MP Ron Mark stated that the police should be congratulated, and suggested a link between criminal gangs and the "suspected terrorist groups."McCarten also stated that New Zealanders should be more worried about the country joining the US database of terrorist suspects, and "the creeping powers of our secret police."[91] However the "From the Left" columnist for The Dominion Post, Chris Trotter, reacted differently, saying "it wasn't the actions of the police that provoked my fury, but of those who'd forced their hand".Global Peace and Justice Auckland spokesperson Mike Treen said a "Darth Vader police force in para-military uniforms has been terrorising whole communities" and called for a national day of action the following week.[103] Len Richards, a Labour Party delegate allegedly struck a protester in the face with a megaphone, though he claimed "there was no violence" despite TV3 showing footage of the incident.[112] A documentary critical of the raids, Operation 8: Deep in the Forest, was directed by Errol Wright and Abi King-Jones and screened around New Zealand as part of the World Cinema Showcase film festival in 2011.[113] A review for The Dominion Post called it a "terrific piece of New Zealand film-making", and said: "Whether or not anyone in the Ureweras was actually planning murder and mayhem is for the court to decide.[117] In May 2013, the IPCA published its report of its findings and recommendations following the investigation of complaints by individuals and organisations about police actions during the raids, particularly relating to road blocks and the execution of search warrants.He disagreed however with some findings, and felt the report did not sufficiently address the distress that had been caused to the local community: "I thought it should have said something very, very wrong happened ... and the lives of many people will never be the same again."[64] The police spokesman for the Labour Party, Kris Faafoi, acknowledged that innocent people had been "unnecessarily frightened and intimidated", and supported the idea of an annual review to measure the implementation of the IPCA's recommendations.[17] Prime Minister John Key, who had been opposition leader at the time of the raids, said that the police failures were "a serious matter in terms of the stress that they put on those communities," but highlighted that it was a "significant operation, people were charged and went to jail."