I must say I was quite shocked to note Brian Tāmaki’s claim to be Aotearoa’s first ever political prisoner and to subsequently see him welcomed at Mt Eden Correctional Facility by a bunch of his thugs performing the well known Ngāti Toa haka ‘Ka Mate’, a haka created by Te Rauparaha and banned by Ngāti Toa kaumatua for use by ‘Freedom & Rights’ protesters who clearly couldn’t give a rats patootie about tikanga.
What Brian wants, Brian gets.
Indisputably a political prisoner, Te Rauparaha became one of New Zealand’s first political detainees when he was seized during the fighting in the Hutt Valley. Other 19th century Māori leaders who faced similar treatment included Te Kooti, Te Whiti, Tohu Kākahi, Hohepa Te Umuroa, Te Waretiti, Matiu Tikiaki, Te Kumete, Topi, Matai-umu and Te Rahui who were all detained by the Crown in 1846.
Tame Iti is another, but in more recent times.
Iti figured among a group of at least 17 people arrested by police on 15 October 2007 in a series of raids under both the Terrorism Suppression Act and the Firearms Act under the Prime Ministership of Helen Clark In September 2011. Most of the alleged terrorists, originally arrested with Iti, had all terrorism and firearms charges dropped. Iti and three others, however, were charged with belonging to a criminal group.
A bit over the top to call Ngāi Tuhoe, the deeply loved and respected ‘children of the mist’, a ‘criminal group, especially given the Crown’s disgraceful treatment, in 1916, of Tuhoe prophet Rua Kenana, Whatu and others.
Iti’s trial was held in February and March 2012, and he and the other defendants were found guilty of some firearms charges, and not guilty of others.
On the most substantial charge of belonging to a criminal group, the jury could not reach a verdict, even when invited by the judge to reach a majority verdict of ten to one.
The Crown decided not to proceed with a second trial.
Justice Rodney Hansen sentenced Iti and Rangi Kemara to a two-and-a-half-year prison term on 24 May 2012.
In October 2012, Iti and the three others convicted on firearms charges following the raids, lost an appeal against their sentences. Iti’s son Wairere Iti said his father was “not overly surprised”, and they may take the case to the Supreme Court.
Iti was granted parole in February 2013.
Conscientious objectors from the Boer War, WWI, WWII and The American War in Vietnam were also incarcerated for their beliefs, and activist Mike Smith, who cut down the lone pine tree on Maugakiekie (One Tree Hill) with a chainsaw, was sentenced to Periodic Detention for his ‘crime’.
Tāmaki, on the other hand and by comparison, is, in my opinion, simply a common criminal who is in contempt of court and cannot be called a political prisoner within any reasonable meaning of the term.
dykiegirl 