Top lawyer takes on Ruatoki raids
Source: ONE News
It is almost three weeks since the police weapons raid on the Ruatoki Valley but the people in the valley are not going to roll over and continue with their lives until they have exhausted every opportunity to make the police answerable for their actions.
A team including leading lawyer Peter Williams QC is on a mission in Tuhoe country, checking on possible civil and human rights breaches during the recent raids.
Williams is offering people in the Ruatoki area the chance to challenge police over their actions.
“If they think they are going to get away with something like that because it’s some country district, well believe you me, they have got another think coming,” says Williams.
Williams and his team, which includes another lawyer and a private investigator, is targeting the people who were ordered out of their vehicles and made to hold a piece of cardboard with a number on it and photographed.
“There is no statutory authority for that conduct, it’s not just my opinion, it is the opinion of a collective number of senior lawyers that discussed this matter and it’s a very grievous infringement of civil life,” says Williams.
Williams says a number of lawyers have also asked him to check if any other civil or human rights were violated on the day of the raids.
“If we are sure we have the facts, we will then issue proceedings against the New Zealand police for damages… that’s really what it comes to,” says Williams.
Their fact finding mission begins in Ruatoki where almost three weeks ago the place was brought to a standstill by police blockades.
Williams plans to interview about 20, mostly elderly, residents.
“It’s not just about damages, it’s about people’s dignity, self esteem…. I think the money is secondary, I think that they have got to realise they have got to deal with the people in Ruatoki, just the same as they would be dealing with people in Remuera Rd,” he says, referring to one of Auckland’s wealthiest streets.
The mission to Tuhoe country comes on the day a survey was released showing that 41% of Maori surveyed believe police over-reacted on the day they came into Ruatoki.