Mikus' Judge Does Great Job With Poor Law

Friday 1 Nov 2002 Stephen Franks Press Releases -- Crime & Justice -- Zero Tolerance for Crime

Justice Gendall's judgment today sentencing Jules Pierre Nicolas Mikus to life imprisonment, preventive detention and two terms of fourteen years is refreshingly old-fashioned, ACT Justice Spokesman Stephen Franks said today.

"Justice Gendall has denounced the evil man in the strongest terms available to him. He has carefully navigated two sets of mine fields. The first is leaving room for grounds to appeal. By recording a denial that he was trying to avenge Teresa's suffering, no matter how justified, he took away the argument that the sentence was retributive.

"The second mine field is the risk recorded by the Judge that "Parliament has entrusted [the task of deciding how long criminals will actually serve in jail] not to the Courts but to the parole board".

"Justice Gendall emphasised at every opportunity the risks of Mikus' further offending to limit the room for a parole board second-guessing his decision. Mikus has a right to seek parole after seven years, and at least every two years after that. The parole board would have to grant it if he could satisfy them that he was no longer a danger to the community, no matter how outrageous that would be to everyone - the board included. For example, under Labour's new parole law if Hitler was in prison and feigned great remorse and couldn't do it again because he had become incapacitated, the parole board would have to let him out.

"Let's just hope that a parole board in seven years time shares Justice Gendall's conclusion that no-one should ever release Mikus," Mr Franks said.

For more information visit ACT online at http://www.act.org.nz or contact the ACT Parliamentary Office at act@parliament.govt.nz.

© Scoop Media

Scoop Post Election Podcast: The River Of Freedom Documentary Review

After recording a River of Freedom review the Scoop Political Podcast went into hibernation. Now with a new Government formed it’s time to dust off this forgotten silver and look at the impact this documentary, about the Wellington parliamentary protest of 2022, had on Election 23. Watched by potentially tens of thousands of voters in the weeks prior to the election River of Freedom was not likely to have won votes for the then Labour government. More

Gordon Campbell: On The Skewed Media Coverage Of Gaza

Now that he’s back as Foreign Minister, maybe Winston Peters should start reading the MFAT website which is currently celebrating the 25th anniversary of how Kiwis alerted the rest of the world to the genocide in Rwanda. How times have changed ...

In 2023, the government is clutching its pearls because senior Labour MP Damien O’Connor has dared suggest that Gaza’s civilian population - already living under apartheid and subjected to sixteen years of an illegal embargo, and now being herded together and slaughtered indiscriminately amid the destruction of their homes, schools, mosques, and hospitals - are also victims of what amounts to genocide. More