WELLINGTON musicians are rallying support for 15 people arrested in the 2007 Urewera ‘terror raids’, who will now be tried by judge-alone, at the High Court in Auckland on May 30. Charges made under the Terrorist Supression Act were dropped in 2007, but firearms and organised criminal group charges remain. Last week, the Court of Appeal upheld Justice Helen Winkelman’s decision to deny the 15 a trial by jury.
Local musicians, including members of Little Bushman, The Phoenix Foundation, Jessie James and the Outlaws, Fly My Pretties, Woolshed Sessions, Electric Wire Hustle, Trinity Roots and The Nudge, have signed a letter to Minister Simon Power and Attorney-General Chris Findlayson, calling for trial by jury.
“I am firm in my belief and understanding that the accused in this case are not terrorists, do not belong to a criminal gang, and do not, as the public has been lead to think, stash guns under their beds. Rather, this bunch consists of some of the most intelligent and respected people in New Zealand, who consistently stand up for human and animal rights, the environment and tino rangatiratanga,” says musician Jessie Moss.
“The whole terrorist premise is just another example of how individuals’ basic rights are being undermined and disregarded in the name of national security,” says Rio Hemopo, of Trinity Roots.
Publication of the reasons behind the judge-only decision is forbidden, so defendants and supporters can only speculate.
“If, the Crown has a solid case to put forward, why will they not let a jury see it?” asks Moss.
The right to trial by jury is not absolute, under section 361D of the Crimes Act, amended in 2008, a judge may order trial without jury in cases “that are likely to be long and complex”.
Moss says: “This trial’s set to take 12 weeks. So many cases have gone beyond that, but were still tried in front of a jury.”
In early 2007, well-known Wellington activist Valerie Morse released Against Freedom: The War on Terrorism in Everyday New Zealand Life, a book about what she saw as the role of government and media in the ‘war on terror’. Just months later, Morse was arrested in the raids.
“At 5:45am, there was a swarm of police at my door. A woman detective told me that I would be charged with ‘participation in a terrorist group’. I almost laughed at the time because it was the most absurd thing I had ever heard. But they took us to court that afternoon, and refused to grant us bail. That is when it really hit home: we weren’t leaving anytime soon. Indeed, we went to solitary confinement at Arohata prison,” she says.
Morse will be tried by judge-only, for both firearms and organised criminal group charges.
“Trial by jury is one of the pillars of the Western legal system. It is one of the key differences between places like New Zealand and many dictatorial regimes. The resources of the State in pursuing a criminal prosecution are almost limitless, while for a person accused of a crime, their resources are very limited,” she says.
“The high public interest in the case means that a jury trial is the only valid option.”