Activist Arrested In John Key’s Office During Non-Violent TPPA Sit In

In an all woman sit in, Show Us Ya Text occupied the Prime Minister’s office in Kumeu today until they were removed by police around 11am. The all female protest wanted to highlight New Zealand’s proud democratic history and the threat posed by secret TPPA negotiations.

Female members of “Show Us Ya Text” held pictures of Kate Sheppard proclaiming “I am Kate” and occupied Prime Minister John Key’s office while supporters waved banners outside. Police were on the scene within minutes and removed the protestors, taking their details and forcing them off the premises.

“All protesters involved received comprehensive non-violence training and strictly adhere to these principles in all our actions. The assault charge laid is completely unfounded and we have video evidence to back this up” said Georgina Blackmore.

She went on to say, “Kate Sheppard fought for women's democratic rights and these same rights are now threatened by the government's secrecy in the TPPA negotiations”.

“Last week our deadline to the government to release the TPPA text passed. The secrecy of these negotiations is incompatible with the democratic society Kate fought for and we’ll be conducting a non-violent search and seizure in Wellington on Tuesday September 15th”, said Blackmore.

ENDS

© Scoop Media