Meurant should donate baton money to Sth African charity

Ross Meurant should give the money from selling his Springbok Tour baton to a South African charity, so that the obscene sale helps the black people who were oppressed by the apartheid regime he defended, says Green MP Rod Donald, who protested in 1981.

Ex-MP Meurant, who was second-in-command of the notorious Red Squad during the Muldoon era upheaval, has today sold his long baton, which he imported at the time, for $20,000 to a South African buyer through the 'Trade Me' website.

"I was appalled by Meurant's behaviour during the Tour and I'm even more appalled now that he is profiting from the violence he meted out to legitimate anti-apartheid protesters," said Mr Donald.

"The Police had a difficult job during the Tour because they were obliged to uphold the rule of law, but Meurant and his Red Squad acted like a pack of vigilantes who took the law into their own hands.

"Meurant's own listing on Trade Me - 'Red Squad wielding the baton in a blaze of blood throughout the tour' - confirms that he still takes pride in his thuggish behaviour.

"Undoubtedly the South African buyer of this weapon supports both Meurant's treatment of New Zealand protesters and white rule in South Africa," said Mr Donald.

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