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No more 'Rambo' raids - Nicky Hager
18
March, 2016
There
will be no further "Rambo" police raids on the media for a
long time, the journalist Nicky Hager says.
Nicky
Hager Photo: RNZ/ Kim Baker Wilson
He
emerged from the High Court today after travelling to Auckland with
his lawyer to collect
belongings taken during an illegal search of his home in October
2014.
The
search came after blogger Cameron Slater laid a complaint when
information from his own computer, obtained by a hacker known as
Rawshark, was published in Mr Hager's book Dirty Politics.
A
High Court judge later ruled the warrant used for it was
fundamentally unlawful and that police failed to disclose relevant
information to the judge that issued it.
For
almost 18 months Mr Hager's belongings have been inside sealed
containers in the High Court in Auckland, and today he came to get
them back while warning the matter was far from over.
Nicky
Hager outside court with his box of property. Photo: RNZ/
Kim Baker Wilson
"In
a job like mine I've got running into the hundreds of thousands of
files from different projects, and they took down to the very last
ancient CD of family photos.
"They
took everything and it's been fairly inconvenient not to have it, but
it's all coming back now," he said outside court with his box of
property.
Also
included was a 2TB police hard drive that officers copied Mr Hager's
data onto, purposefully rendered usхeless.
"We
went down the the basement of the building into this little narrow
room without lights on.
"The
police held torches around while the detective who was in charge of
removing stuff from my house... destroyed the materials which they
had copied from the house.
"The
detective took an orange-handled hammer and he hit this hard drive
213 times and then he took out bolt cutters and cut holes in it, and
I'm obviously very pleased about this," he said.
Mr
Hager said the police will now never be able to have his data.
Some
of Nicky Hager's returned belongings. Photo: RNZ/
Kim Baker Wilson
"I
felt emotional about it but I felt that I was watching history going
on.
"Because
what we saw down there with each blow of that hammer was hitting home
the fact that there are better legal protections for the media and I
hope everyone will benefit from this."
Mr
Hager said he is still pursuing the case in the courts regarding what
the police did in his home, and whether they should have had access
to his bank accounts.
"I'm
still gobsmacked that the police thought that it was reasonable to
arrive like Rambo and spend 11 hours doing over my house where they
found nothing they wanted.
"It
was completely and utterly over the top and it would've been
depressing for everyone who works in this field if they'd got away
with it."
Mr
Hager thanked his lawyers, other media, and the public who have
helped fund his case which he said had cost "a tremendous
amount".
"I
hope what this means is that people won't be more scared to be
whistleblowers and more scared to be sources in the media.
"They'll
realise that there are actually proven legal protections and they'll
do the right thing, they'll serve the public, they'll inform the
public from wherever they are inside the government or outside -
people who want to be sources will realise it's actually okay and
they'll keep doing it," he said.
Photo: RNZ/
Kim Baker Wilson
Unleashing GCSB To Spy On Kiwis One More Step On Road To Police State
10
March, 2016
The
Anti-Bases Campaign is appalled by the recommendations made in the
newly-released Intelligence Agencies review.
The
authors have proposed overthrowing a basic tenet of spy operations in
this country and paved the way for a massive expansion in
surveillance of NZ citizens.
This
is just another retrograde step on the road to a police state.
Previous
restrictions on domestic spying by the Government Communications
Security Bureau (GCSB) are to be removed; the basic democratic
protection against the spies turning their cutting edge mass
surveillance machinery on domestic life is to be eliminated.
The
report justifies the increasing power of the agencies by proposing
more transparency and oversight.
Ironically,
Sir Michael Cullen, the key author of the report, is the man who
exemplifies the inadequacy of trying to monitor these organisations
as he was the person who, when he was in Government, continually gave
false assurances denying illegal activity in the past.
The
glaring deficiency in the review is the complete lack of
consideration of the activities of the Five Eyes system which are the
major part of the GCSB activities.
The
super-secret group carries out operations designed to give Washington
the means to manipulate political, economic and diplomatic activities
around the world.
NZ’s
part in this is despicable and reprehensible.
Any
suggestion that oversight by a handful of Kiwi commissioners will
reveal the truth about the operations being carried out by Five Eyes
is laughable.
New
Zealand, instead, needs
to follow the example of Canada, one of our four Big Brothers in
Five Eyes. Canada has suspended sharing Canadians’ metadata with
its Five Eyes partners until it is satisfied about safeguards.
NZ
can only restore its reputation in the world by closing down the
Waihopai spy base and pulling out of the Five Eyes system.
Plus
it needs to close down the SIS and transfer its functions to the
Police who (theoretically at least) have to justify their actions in
a court of law.
Key wasn’t just scare mongering with Jihadi Brides – he used it to distract from Tim Groser GCSB spying
10
March, 2016
Let’s
just remind everyone what actually happened here.
Late
last year, The
GCSB and SIS had to front for the Intelligence and Security
Committee. Questions were being asked about what the bloody hell
the GCSB thought they were doing spying on our trade partners to try
and get Tim Groser a job. Instead of answering those questions, the
mouth pieces for the GCSB and SIS said they couldn’t answer that
but they could talk about ‘Jihadi Brides’ – John Key
immediately then seized upon this – as if this had been planned all
along – and in front of the media played up the domestic threat
posed by ‘Jihadi brides’ which justified expanding spy powers.
So
instead of being forced to explain how they are currently misusing
their spy powers, Key and the Intelligence Agencies managed to
distract and spook everyone while demonising Muslims.
It
NOW turns out that entire spin line about Jihadi Brides was
bullshit because
they didn’t even live in NZ!!!!
NZers
have been conned. Once again. And instead of focus on this outright
lie and blatant attempt to manipulate the public, we get media
attention false focused on Andrew Little for supposed racism based on
questions the media put to him and we have another distraction with
Key tweeting some inane crap to Jack Black about bloody pandas!
The
Left are angry because of the out right lies and distractions
that pass as mainstream media coverage. The Left are angry at the
ease with which Key can deceive. The Left are angry at how
gullible the rest of the electorate are.
That
anger then gets portrayed by a right wing political mercenary like
Matthew Hooton as some type of mental illness.
Meanwhile
300 000 kids live in poverty, the economy is being held up by lazy
immigration and a housing bubble while dairy intensification falls
over under an ocean of debt. We have private prisons bulging and
public hospitals squeezed and we have entire generations unable
to conceive of ever owning a home.
But
don’t worry, the fucking Batchelor is on so it can’t be too bad
eh?
John
Key knew NZ ‘jihadi brides’ claim to be false
Thursday,
17 March 2016, 3:05 pm
Press
Release: Green Party
17
March 2016
John
Key knew NZ ‘jihadi brides’ claim to be false
The
Prime Minister deliberately misled the New Zealand public into
believing women had left New Zealand to join terrorist groups and
become what he described as “jihadi Brides”, the Green Party
says.
In
Parliament today, Government Minister Gerry Brownlee confirmed the
Prime Minister knew, before the Intelligence and Security Committee
hearing in December 2015, that no Kiwi women had left New Zealand to
become “jihadi brides”.
At
the hearing, SIS director Rebecca Kitteridge described young New
Zealand women leaving to live with terrorist groups in Iraq and
Syria, at which point the Prime Minister asked her: “Whereas they
are now going as jihadi brides?”
“John
Key’s comments after the hearing created the distinct impression
that the women had been living in New Zealand, and that there had
been terrorists, or terrorist sympathisers living among us,” said
Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei.
“The
Prime Minster used his idea of ‘jihadi brides’ to whip up fear
and suspicion among New Zealanders, at the same time the spy agencies
were seeking more powers. He had plenty of opportunities to clarify
that none of the women had been living in New Zealand before they
left for Syria and to correct the media that any impression that
terrorist sympathisers had been living here was wrong.
“The
Prime Minister lied by omission and he hurt innocent New Zealanders
in the process.
“This
is another example of John Key not telling the full truth, in order
to get his own way. We saw the same thing when he tried to hide the
fact he had been childhood friends with former GCSB director Ian
Fletcher, at the time he appointed Mr Fletcher to the job.
“The
Islamic Women’s Council asked the Prime Minister for evidence to
back his claims about ‘jihadi brides’. He refused. Today, Gerry
Brownlee told Parliament that was because the country that the women
were living in before they left for the Middle East was “irrelevant”.
“The
Islamic Women’s Council didn’t think it was irrelevant, that’s
why they asked for proof. The women deserve an apology from the Prime
Minister for his arrogant and hurtful response to their concerns,”
Mrs Turei said.
US
spy boss James Robert Clapper Jr makes secretive visit to Australia
ABC,
18
March, 2016
America's
top spy, the US Director of National Intelligence, is on a secret
visit to Australia, the ABC has learnt.
James
Robert Clapper Jr directs the US National Intelligence Program and
reports directly to President Barack Obama.
So
far the Federal Government is refusing to give any details of his
activities and meetings while in Australia, but the United States
embassy in Canberra has confirmed Mr Clapper's visit.
"As
allies, the United States and Australia cooperate closely on a wide
range of issues," an embassy spokeswoman told the ABC.
"It
is not uncommon that senior US Government officials visit Australia
and engage in high-level consultations."
Before
flying to Australia Mr Clapper stopped over in New Zealand where he
met with Prime Minister John Key.
"I've
met General Clapper on a couple of occasions. He's obviously got
great insight into intelligence and what's happening around the
world," Mr Key said.
The
US intelligence chief is believed to be travelling onboard a US
military C-17 Globemaster.
Last
week the Australian Federal Police hosted the Director of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation James B Comey on a two-day visit to
Australia.
Mr
Comey also met with Attorney-General George Brandis and Justice
Minister Michael Keenan.
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