Press Release

Police Complaints Authority endorses Murder

Justifying the killing of Steven Wallace by police as an act of self-defense, and in the name of protecting property is not acceptable in the eyes of Wellington group, Aotearoa Educators.

"We are clear in our minds that the conclusions presented in this report serve only to absolve the police from any culpability, sanitising the murder of a young Maori man"

The primary official investigation was conducted with the police as offender, judge and jury . This leaves serious questions about the credibility of any conclusions drawn by the Police Complaints Authority.

The daily experience of Maori youth harassment by Police around the country means that for us, there will be no justice for Steven until an official enquiry that is, independent enquiry, of the accused is formed. Until that time, Maori must base their conclusions on lived experience. That tells us that the current justice system is not for Maori.

This Report was preempted by the independent report of QC Peter Williams where he said "There is no doubt that the present inquiries by the police themselves and the Police Complaints Authority will not result in criminal proceedings against Constable Abbot."

One Waitara youth said " The Police are the worst gang in the country, they have a gang mentality, they wear their uniforms like a patch protecting their own even when they are so blatantly wrong".

The issue of police violence against Maori is at the heart of the anger and grief surrounding the death of Steven Wallace. The investigation is a sham. We call on all groups, organisations, communities, and whanau, Maori and Non-Maori to expose the report for the lie that it is.

We want to see an official report that is thorough and independently conducted free of police control. Justice must be served and seen to be served.

For further comment contact:

Aotearoa Educators Matire Ropiha: matire.ropiha@vuw.ac.nz Ph 021 1177978 C/ Ngai Tauira, Maori Students Association of Victoria University, Student Union Building, Po Box 600, Wellington. Aotearoa - New Zealand

Steven Wallace: Peter Williams QC independent report

http://aotearoa.wellington.net.nz/he/qc.html

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