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Justice

Census Prosecution Verdict Due Tomorrow

Libertarianz member Nikolas Haden will appear in court on Wednesday, May, 30 to hear the verdict in the census prosecution case, following his trial last month when Mr Haden defended himself on Bill of Rights grounds.

Mr Haden is being prosecuted for refusing to fill out the 2005 census and telling the enumerator that he burned the forms. Destroying census forms and refusing to fill out the census are both offences under New Zealand law.

Mr Haden's defence was that he had the right to freedom of speech and that this included the right to remain silent. The government has no right to demand information from people under the threat of prosecution. Other countries are increasingly using alternatives to censuses to obtain what little information they really need without violating individuals' rights, and at considerably lower cost.

Liberarianz are concerned that Mr Haden's prosecution was very selective. Statistics NZ employees revealed on the witness stand that about 92,000 New Zealanders didn't fill in the 2006 census; about 3000 directly refused to fill in the forms. Yet only 72, including Mr Haden, were actually charged. It is unclear why Mr Haden was selected for prosecution, although his public protest against the census may have been a factor.

If found guilty Mr Haden will be required to fill in the census form, even though Statistics NZ has admitted that they won't actually use any of the information written on the form as the census results have already been published.

Mr Haden appears in the District Court at 2.15 pm.

ENDS

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