October 15th Solidarity

The case against the 18 people arrested in the State Terror Raids of 15 October 2008 continues. On 8 & 9 the Court of Appeal heard an application filed by defendants in relation to the admissibility of evidence. Three Court of Appeal judges heard submissions from Rodney Harrison and Annette Sykes for the defendants. The details of this application are suppressed by court order, but needless to say, we hope to win. A judgment could be issued anytime within the next 3-6 months.

On Friday, 11 June there was a teleconference of lawyers and Judge Winkelman who sits at the Auckland High Court. She ordered that the outstanding applications for severance (a dividing up of the case in order to reduce the number of defendants/charges per trial) and change of venue be heard along with other applications for ‘no case to answer’ be heard in the week of 23 August in Auckland.

On a high note, the bail application of two defendants for permission to travel overseas to visit family was approved by the Court. The crown refused to simply consent to the application despite the fact that one of these same defendants had already successfully applied for and been granted permission to travel overseas for precisely the same purpose last year. So when you hear that it is the ‘criminals’ or their lawyers who are taking up court time, remember that story because it is indicative of the way the crown behaves more generally.

At the moment, the trial date is set down for 12 weeks starting on 30 May 2011 but this may change following the outcome of the hearings in August.