28 January 2016

Implicit police threat appalling

Reports of the police visiting known activists to ask their plans for the TPPA show appalling judgement and are a poor attempt at a chilling effect, said the Green Party.

Dunedin Activist Scout Barbour Evans was visited by two police officers who said they were there at the behest of a national directive. The police said they were visiting all known activists in the country about the TPPA.

“Having police show up at your door to ask you what you plan on doing is chilling and the police know that” said Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei.

“It carries with it an implicit threat and New Zealanders have the right to speak out and have their voices heard. Being an activist isn’t a crime, being an activist is being passionate about something and last time I checked that wasn’t illegal.

“If this was a national directive, then police need to reflect on what role they perform. Should we feel safe when we see a police car in our rear view mirror, or should we feel afraid?

“We saw photos of armed police standing around John Key’s state of the nation speech yesterday and now we have this. It sends a worrying signal and I hope it’s not a sign of things to come,” said Ms Turei.

ends

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