26 October 2013

Waihopai activists liable while GCSB off scot-free

The $1.2 million liability bill given to three peace activists at the Court of Appeal yesterday contrasts strikingly with the lack of consequences for GCSB's illegal spying and links to international spying scandals, the Green Party said today.

The activists Peter Murnane, Adrian Leason and Sam Land were found not guilty in 2010 of charges of burglary and willful damage of the GCSB's Waihopai base, but the Court found them liable for damages of $1.2 million and their appeal against that was lost yesterday.

“It is ironic that we have three peace activists with a $1.2 million liability bill while the GCSB continues to not be thoroughly investigated for its potential part in an international spying scandal and their confirmed illegal spying on New Zealanders,” said Green Party intelligence and security spokesperson Steffan Browning.

“While the Courts considered the liability of damage to the Waihopai spy base by peace activists, who is considering the significant cost to New Zealand's reputation by the GCSB with Waihopai spy base being involved with global spy agencies which have been spying on word leaders?

"The Government must be clear about whether we were a party to this spying, and whether any of it took place in New Zealand.

“We are already incurring significant cost in revamping New Zealand legislation through the GCSB and TICS bills to legalise the GCSB's spying on New Zealanders, but we continue to have unanswered questions about what the institution itself is doing.

“The Green Party is calling for an independent and thorough investigation of all aspects of security and intelligence activities by New Zealand agencies.”

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