Te Ururoa Flavell
MP for Waiariki
Tuesday March 20, 2012


Urewera Four: The Collateral Damage - Flavell

Maori Party MP for Waiariki, Te Ururoa Flavell, says his first thoughts following the verdict on the 'Urewera Four ' have been for the four people who have been stigmatised by the actions taken by the Crown, and the people of Tuhoe who as a community have been painted as terrorists and have borne the shame and the humiliation of this whole sorry saga.

“The hung jury on the principal 'organised crime' charge, and the mixture of guilty and not-guilty verdicts on the firearms charges, confirms deep doubts in the community about the Crown’s case," said Mr Flavell.

“We believe that to treat this community as terrorists; instigating an unprecedented raid involving up to three hundred police, and then have the issue of terrorism down-graded to gun games in the bush signifies a huge error of judgment for the Crown and the NZ Police.”

“What’s worse, is the collateral damage on innocent families and the tribal nation of Tuhoe.”

“The Crown did itself no favours using illegal tactics and pushing this issue as a terrorist issue; hyping up the public fear through the actions taken.

"This decision offers no closure to Tuhoe. Our greatest hope is that we can all soon put this case behind us, and work to resolve the lingering hurt and resentment that this trial has drawn out:

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