Goff’s concerns about Raids cases are gutless point scoring

Today, the architect of the Terrorism Suppression Act 2002, Phil Goff condemned the delays in the October 15th, 2007 raids cases getting to court.

The October 15th Solidarity Group dismisses his concerns as political point scoring.

Mr Goffs comments are gutless political point scoring. He has not had any concerns about the police actions or delays for three years. He has never been interested in any justice around this issue. Now, as the leader of the Labour party he says he is worried about the continued fallout the raids have taken on the party said October 15th Solidarity spokesperson Peter Steiner.

The police resorted to the Terrorism Suppression Act (TSA) only after their dodgy surveillance operations became impossible to continue under the Crimes Act as their investigation had failed to turn up any illegal activity.

The police again failed to identify any criminal behavior with their new surveillance and faced with their TSA warrants expiring with no evidence to renew them the police made the decision to raid homes on the 15th of October in a last ditch effort to find some evidence of a conspiracy.

The Police then presented their case to the Solicitor General David Collins out of necessity rather than because they thought they had solid evidence, as not doing this would have caused public to lose faith in the Police and their caviler use of anti terrorism laws. It was no surprise that Collins turned down the application.

This is also clear from the charges the Police in collaboration with Crown prosecutor Ross Burns have laid, they are all effectively reverse the onus of proof from the Police to the Defendants having to prove their innocence rather than the police proving guilt.

The situation is totally absurd: imagine been pulled over in your car for doing nothing wrong and been told to prove that during your trip you weren’t driving dangerously, or be charged with dangerous driving. In such a case the absence of evidence can be very difficult to prove and it is this strategy the Crown has resorted to in Operation 8.

The defendants continue to be punished by this Operation. Many were incarcerated for weeks after the raids, and all have had their passports confiscated. Howard Broad labeling them as terrorists has made it difficult for many to find work and accommodation. They are still been made to report to police stations amongst other conditions of bail.

The October 15th Solidarity Group demands that the Solicitor General, with the knowledge that he has about this case, withdraws all the charges against the 18 accused in Operation 8.

ENDS

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