October 15th Solidarity - Remember the state terror raids

17th October 2007

Controversial Tuhoe activist Tame Iti faces further charges relating to an alleged cache of weapons and will remain behind bars for at least another week.
Iti was remanded in custody until October 24 during a brief appearance in Rotorua District Court this afternoon.

He has also been charged with three more counts of unlawful possession of a weapon. Police claim he had a .22 Ruger, a second .22 rifle, and a military-style Saiga 7.62 calibre rifle.

The 55-year-old now faces 11 charges under the Firearms Act.

Iti was arrested in the early hours of Monday morning after police burst into his Ruatoki home.

His court appearance this afternoon was a much quieter affair than on Tuesday, when a crowd of supporters were at the courthouse. Media were banned from the courtroom today, however whanau were allowed to watch proceedings.

Meanwhile, security was tight when four people arrested on joint firearms charges appeared in Wellington District Court this afternoon.

The two men and two women, who have name suppression, were arrested early Monday morning as part of a nationwide operation that seized firearms and targeted a loose alliance of activists alleged to have plotted armed attacks.

The accused were due to appear again on Friday, but an emergency hearing was called today. Anyone entering the court room had to pass through a metal detector and bags were checked. In an unusual move, their names had been deleted from the court criminal list.

The four accused smiled and gesticulated at supporters, who packed the public gallery and applauded as they were lead away.

Judge Ian Mill remanded the four in custody till Friday when applications for bail will be heard.

Iti planned IRA-style war, says police
Tame Iti was preparing to declare an IRA-style war on New Zealand in a bid to establish his long-standing dream of an independent Tuhoe nation, police documents show.

A source close to The Dominion Post said the documents, disclosed by police to legal parties for the accused, showed police had been monitoring Iti's movements for 18 months, videoing and photographing his Urewera commando training camps and intercepting text messages sent by Iti to his co-conspirators.

Iti named the group Rama, the Maori word for enlightenment, and is alleged to have stated three months ago that he had stopped all his other activities to "make war on New Zealand".

The source described the movement as "comical" and "amateurish", with the group buying military uniforms from an Auckland army surplus store.

Numbering about 20, the participants were predominantly based in Auckland. Many were in their late teens, the youngest a 15-year-old girl.

During the training camps, members were required to wear balaclavas to hide their identities from each other, and many of their methods were based on a "green book IRA manual".

It is understood several members of the group are former New Zealand Army soldiers, some of whom fought in the Vietnam War.

Iti is alleged to have bought shotgun ammunition from an Auckland gun shop and tried to obtain grenade launchers. It is not clear from the documents whether he succeeded.

But a document suggests the arms dealer was willing to obtain grenade launchers.

No mention of targets is made in the documents, but it is believed the only explosives the group had access to were molotov cocktails. The group was allegedly trained in ambushes and "IRA-style attacks", with a "key camp" being held in the Ureweras, in eastern Bay of Plenty, last November.

Much of the police evidence is based on text messages sent between group members, and the police documents show the group had been under continuous electronic and visual surveillance.

Nine of the people arrested and charged after Monday's raids remain in custody after court appearances yesterday.

Jamie Beattie Lockett, 46, unemployed, of Takanini, appeared in the Auckland District Court yesterday and was initially granted bail. This decision was appealed by the Crown and Lockett's bail was revoked by a High Court judge.

The Crown said police had intercepted text messages Lockett sent saying he was intending to launch a war at New Zealand.

"I'm training up to be a vicious, dangerous commando," one message said. Another text said: "White men are going to die in this country."

Lockett, who did not apply for name suppression, said that while he was a friend of Iti, he was not involved in any illegal activity.

"I have never, ever transported a gun or ammunition in any vehicle in New Zealand. I'm anti-ammunition and guns," Lockett said. He dismissed police evidence against him as "lies, weak and uninvestigated".

Four other men and a woman also appeared in the Auckland District Court on firearms charges. All five, aged between 18 and 58, successfully sought name suppression and have been remanded in custody until Friday.

In the Rotorua District Court today, Iti will find out whether his application for bail has been successful.

Iti and a woman, who was granted name suppression, appeared in court yesterday charged with firearms offences. The woman has been remanded in custody until October 29.

In Palmerston North, a man, 53, was remanded in custody after appearing in court on two charges of unlawful possession of a firearm.