So the Minister of Police has issued a statement saying there would be no apology to the Urewera 18 since charges have been dropped against most of them. The Crown and the Police should absolutely apologise. The Police have said there wasn’t enough evidence to proceed against all but four of the accused.
Quick question…why did that take four years to figure out?
The ‘news’ we heard all those years ago about military style training camps, terrorism, Molotov Cocktails, firearms etc…that led the police to lay charges surely would lead us all to believe that there was easily enough evidence to take all involved to court.
Quick question, why can a charge be laid when there is insufficient evidence?
If the evidence is there to lay charges, then it should be there to continue with the charges…unless the evidence was never there.
There should be an apology and the reason is simple. If it was you or I that had been dragged through this for four years…then we’d want one. We, the law abiding, non-minority, middle class centre of NZ would want an apology no matter what we had…or hadn’t done.
If the police have trumped up the charges…an apology is needed.
If the police have stuffed up the case…an apology is needed.
If the police put you or I through 4 years of being accused terrorists, to the detriment of our families, relationships and finances then just threw it all in saying “not enough evidence” we’d demand an apology. And the people of NZ deserve an apology from the police; this is the second case this month where public money has been spent in the vicinity of $1 million…only to have the case dropped.
What about an apology to us for this funding that has basically been thrown in the fire and burnt.
I have no idea what happened in Te Urewera’s for these arrests to have taken place, I don’t neither support, nor do I condemn, the so called Urewera 18. All I know is that if you or I were put through what they were put through we’d expect, and deserve, an apology.
Why should it be any different for them?
Joe Average www.averagejoe.co.nz
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