Police raid of Investigative Journalist’s house ruled illegal – this is a war on journalism

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Just read that headline again for a second, Police raid of Investigative Journalist’s house ruled illegal.

Where would you expect that kind of headline?

A third world banana republic? A harsh authoritarian middle eastern country, or soviet satellite state or CIA client government?

It comes from us, here in NZ.

The ruling that the Police illegally raided Nicky Hager’s home should force immediate attention on this issue by every media outlet in our country. This is a war on journalism being quietly waged by the Government via the Police force. The abuse of power is remarkable and there needs to be an immediate investigation into how this was allowed to occur and whether there was any political interference in this raid.

Hager wasn’t a suspect, he was a journalist with legal protections that the Police simply overrode  without a seconds thought because his work had humiliated and embarrassed the Government.

Look at the way the Police behaved on the day

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Police searched and seized computers, phones and personal records from Mr. Hager’s home. They also intimidated Mr. Hager’s daughter (who was home at the time) by forcing her to dress in front of an officer and relinquish her personal computer. In addition, they asked a number of service providers to give them access to Mr. Hager’s personal details without a warrant or production order. Most of the service providers refused or asked for a warrant but at least one, the financial corporation Westpac, gave up eight month’s worth of Mr. Hager’s transaction records without asking the Police for a legal instrument compelling them to do so.

We now know…

  • The Police were investigating Hager before a complaint was even registered.
  •  The speed with which they raided Hager’s home is incredible compared against similar crimes and lack of Police action on those.
  • The Police also gained the information of 2500 NZers who holidayed in Vanuatu and there’s been no explanation what has happened to those peoples private information.
  • Police threatened companies with legal action if they didn’t hand over information.
  • Police didn’t bother with gaining search warrants for this information.
  • Westpac damaged Hager’s credit rating based on being approached by the Police.
  • Former National Party Minister of Justice Simon Power went to work at Westpac.

…why was there an immediate investigation? Who ordered that?

The Search and Surveillance powers the Police are trying to justify their illegal activity were passed to fight organised crime and terrorists. This all should alarm people because the Police have a history under this Government of breaking the law, and John Key just rolling up and pass retrospective legislation simply legalising their illegality. That creates  a Police force who become a law unto themselves.

The Secret Intelligence Agency agreed to work with the PMs Office to falsely smear Phil Goff months before the 2011 election. To have the Prime Minister’s Office and the SIS collude to work together, how much of a jump is it to suggest the Police and the Government have colluded in this case against Hager?

Because if that’s true – there must be a push back against this type of abuse of political power.

Yes your house is over valued and that gives you a sense of slim security, but we can’t let this sort of thing happen. Cops raiding journalists homes for exposing abuse of power, that’s not NZ.

We are better than this.

82 COMMENTS

  1. Thanks Martyn for opening up this one for discussion.

    This judicial decision is not only a win for investigative journalism, but also a positive for whistleblowers. A plus for NZ for in general 🙂

    Now we will wait for the brain dead troglodytes to visit TDB, on the insistence of their NatzKEY masters, giving their thumbs down to some intelligent debate!

    • I’ve made the comment before and I will say it again because it has now received more vindication.
      The NZ police’s first priority used to be to fight crime and protect us from crime. Now that function is vying for supremacy with the police’s new priority to go after government political opponents – harass and intimidate them, apparently working to instructions from the Beehive.
      If this isn’t clear enough for the sleepy hobbits then there is no hope for them at all.

      • The NZ police like Judith Collins and the fake Jacinda Arden main point is to stand up for the interests of the ordinary male retards and peasants. They are therefore the enemy of all who believe in human truth, beauty and freedom. Collins is of course a particuly disgusting example whose history goes back to extraordinary Brash/ Sinclair campaign of racist SA bastardry of lock of the maoris mentals and alleged criminals. Any decent party would have had powerful hoses to wash out the inbred trash like Goff, Ansell, Franks. Slater who support this police nazism.

    • Intelligent debate???!!!

      Now see here , MARY – A,- intelligent debate is to the neo liberal as the flight of Icarus- it aint gonna happen.

      As long as they can salute a red peak and shit all over the commons wealth they can see nothing wrong.

      But occasionally , …just occasionally we get a whimper from a Gosman or an AndrewO…..

      Which is always good for the comedic value to relieve tensions in such serious situations as the Hagar ordeal and how it pertains to journalism and democracy in this country… concepts that they wouldn’t have an iota of commonsense in….

      • Just as long as you’re OK with the theft of personal emails and are happy to call it ‘Journalism’

        ….because it cuts both ways

        (Just to spell it out for the mentally challenged here, don’t go crying in your beer when YOUR privacy is being undermined)

        • If I were to suffer a complete loss of ethics and intellect to the level where I would participate in the filthy goings on of a Cameron Slater/Judith Collins tag team managed from FJK’s office, I hope someone would invade my privacy. Society would need protecting from me and my sane self would applaud someone who hacked in the cause of a decent world.

        • Its called ‘ IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST’ my old son and you don’t light a lamp then hide it in a closet so no – one can see in the darkness .

          Have a wee tink on that cos someone else said something to that same effect 2000 years ago.

          Funny how they crucified him for saying such things, eh…

        • Andrew, what you’re saying is nonsensical.

          Collins is an elected member of Parliament; as such her activities are open to scrutiny.

          Slater engaged in activities that were little more than character assassination, with information provided from National Party sources.

          So yes, we have a right to know that.

          Essentially, what your bleat is about is resenting the fact that Slater/Collins/et-al were ‘outed’ and the public shown what was happening right under their noses.

          If the tables were reversed and it had been a Labour minister, you’d be the one screaming “PUBLIC INTEREST!”.

          And yes, I would be pissed off if my email account was hacked*.

          But then, I’m not an elected MP engaging in dubious activities and I’m not engaged in character assassination of political opponants**.

          It’s called Public Interest – something you and your mates are very frightened of.

          * Hacking my email account would be pointless. I make it a habit to delete nearly all sensitive stuff after reading it.

          ** I have been sent personal details of National MPs and Ministers. I’m even aware of one right-wing public political apparatchik doing ‘the dirty’ on his wife. I have zero intention of using it or passing it on. I deleted it.

          Slater, on the other hand, would make a feast out of it, as he did with Len Brown.

          Be grateful that if anyone ever sent me sleazy info about you, Andrew, I would consign it to the Trash.

          That is the difference, Andrew.

        • Andrew, you’re confusing investigative journalism and the public’s right to know with something else.

          Fact is, you’re pissed off because Hager and Rawshark uncovered dirty dealings in our political system. You’d be hollering with joy if it had been a Labour government at the centre of the debate.

          So your faux moral outrage is less than convincing.

        • Andrew, your unquestioning fealty to the State is appreciated. You will be awarded a high role in the coming One Party State run by Dear Leader.

          No doubt you think the wrong side won WW2, as well??

  2. +100 Great Post …and Winston speaks out on Morning Report

    …sounding like a statesman…certainly has far more gravitas than John Key and Andrew Little and James Shaw

    ‘Peters says Hager case latest example of police politicisation’

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/201783350/peters-says-hager-case-latest-example-of-police-politicisation

    “The High Court ruling that the Police used an unlawful warrant to raid the house of Dirty Politics journalist and author, Nicky Hager, has fuelled claims the police are prone to political pressure. The police were not prepared to speak on Morning Report today. New Zealand First leader Winston Peters joins us.”

    • I’d listen more to what Winston has to say if he would come out and state clearly that he would not support another National government.

      But with him supporting National in the past…. he would do it again. So Winston deriding this government isn’t really doing it.

      • @Lara…Helen Clark could not have formed a working government when Winston went with National ( see Clark documentary)

        Winston was faced with the choice of forcing another General Election if he didnt go with National

        …he reluctantly made the choice to go with National ( because he didnt think the public wanted another Election)

        …and in the end he brought down that National government because of their continuing to sell state assets…this was his bottom line violated

        ….Nacts have hated Winston ever since…and his coalition with them almost killed NZF dead…He wont go there again imo

        • Yes, but don’t forget Peter’s assured the public (promised) in that election that he wouldn’t join National, he repeated this over and over again, yet when it came to crunch time, his promises were lies.
          His party collapsed as they jumped ship and the whole thing ended for both parties.
          I wouldn’t necessarily trust too much what Peters say’s or promises to do, after the last fiasco, he was in the waist land for years.

          • citations?…I thought he refused to commit as he always does

            …but everyone thought he wouldnt go with National because his policies were so opposed

            His first choice was Labour but they did not have the numbers for a working government even with his support

            ( Jim Andertons party refused to join with Helen Clark)

            as National with his support could form a working government , rather than force another Election, he decided to see what he could get out of a coalition…( MMP was very new)

            …but it was a disaster and he pulled the National Party down

    • Yep, Chooky, right again.

      There ought to be enough here to bring down a pathetically repressive government of the kind we have at the moment.

      But is the opposition (Winston temporarily excluded) up to the task?

      So far, it seems not!

      • Tau Henare NZF now a National MP tried to overthrow Winston as leader and half of his party switched to National after Jenny Shipley snuggled up to them. The old NZ establishment/old boys network/business round table/neo liberals do not like Winston as he represents average New Zealanders and he speaks the truth.

  3. An independent Judiciary is the only thing getting in the way of this government at present. In normal sociopathic behaviour, John Key and h is key ministers will be thinking about how they can neutralise the Judiciary after this case.

    • @ EP – “Prominent NZer’s” case coming up in April, so some Judicial neutralizing could well be in the pipeline!

    • Yeah, I saw that final comment and my reaction was

      “Nope. We’re NOT better than that”.

      Seen the TradeMe message boards lately?

      *shudders*

    • Some are, of course, but far too few in the present days we have, at least here in Auckland, where I live, where divide and rule are the social reality every day. It is sad, but people are prone to be manipulated, and government has power, add the “charm” of a currency trader turned PM, who has such high support ratings, same as his party, and we have reason to be worried.

      I will not try bringing in a Godwin style comment, but at times I am remembered of different times in the heart of Europe, where others created much mischief, which of course was at a much higher level of causing harm and evil as we now have here.

  4. Hmmmm….

    1) The Police were investigating Hager before a complaint was even registered.

    Interesting…certainly seems zealous of them…but zealous of them for WHOM?

    2) The speed with which they raided Hager’s home is incredible compared against similar crimes and lack of Police action on those.

    Wouldn’t have been in the same timeframe as a certain right wing blogger with texting addictions to well known personalities , would it?

    3) The Police also gained the information of 2500 NZers who holidayed in Vanuatu and there’s been no explanation what has happened to those peoples private information.

    Interesting….wasn’t Fiji one of the places that our 5 eyes spy network did the dirty work for the USA in the South Pacific?….and what of the destruction of private details held by Police after a certain time … or more succinctly … details that are irrelevant to Police procedures…?

    4) Police threatened companies with legal action if they didn’t hand over information.

    Oh …I see…a little bit of intimidation goes a long way , it seems…like stand over tactics at the local gang pad… nice. I hear the Stasi used to do the same….

    5)Police didn’t bother with gaining search warrants for this information.

    Oh well, they are run of their feet so much for their pony tail pulling Obermeister.

    6)Westpac damaged Hager’s credit rating based on being approached by the Police.

    And we cant blame Westpac for damaging Hagars credit rating, after all…they ARE the Obermeisters tool banking system…

    7) Former National Party Minister of Justice Simon Power went to work at Westpac.

    Finally …we get to the heart of the matter…

  5. Actually I don’t think it is just a war on journalism, it goes further than that. It is a war on FREE journalism and democratic rights. National are quite accepting of journalists and self-styled infotainers that say uncritical or praising things about them, but as soon as anyone says a word against them they are subject to personal and public ridicule by the man at the top – our Prime Minister. Worse still their personal e-mails are hacked, phone calls monitored and property damaged by government supporters whilst the police turn their heads and pretend not to notice.
    This is the kind of thing we expect to hear from places like Russia, it is hard to believe that it is becoming increasingly common in our formerly tolerant, respectful and egalitarian country
    That is why our country is not New Zealand anymore, it is Muddle Nu Zialand, home of the sleepy hobbits.

    • I think this is the kind of press that National and their sychophants would prefer;

      Putin’s Q&A has elements of a carnival and pure showbiz. Over 1,400 media professionals from all over Russia and the world straining to get the President’s attention. Some flatter him, like the regional reporter who complimented Putin on his physique. “The thing is, as a woman I can’t help but compliment our president on the fact you are in such good sporty condition,” she raved. “Thank you so much for this, because our young men take your example, it’s true! And so many more young people now play sports,” she added.

      ref: https://www.rt.com/op-edge/326444-putin-conference-syria-trump/

      Ah, our esteemed Dear Leader can but dream…

  6. Another point. Now where is FJK and the police minister(s) here?

    No comments … yet! Their silence is deafening!

    The public have a right to expect prompt responses from FJK and Collins/Woodhouse/Tolley to the judicial outcome of this case, as part of responsible government (latter bit, joke of course)!

    MSM journalists should be pushing for answers on this issue from FJK and the minister(s) right now, considering Nicky Hager is one of their own!

    But whereas Hager is a credit to his profession of journalism, the other motley lot are too weak and pathetic to investigate anything which is not good news for FJK. Because the directive would have came from FJK to the police to go for Hager, for daring to expose NatzKEY’s part in playing dirty politics! FJK is up to his sly, slimy eyeballs in this one!

    Bet FJK and his police minister(s) will be bringing their holiday plans forward, to disappear quickly, so as to avoid answering too many embarrassing and very tricky questions, this side of Christmas.

    • MSM are under this Governments thumb they are too frightened to talk or look at anything using one ounce of intelligence.

  7. Hager is known trouble maker it polices to watch possible subverses. That threaten the. Status quo and most new zealanders will believe john key the facts don’t matter.
    Main stream new Zealand understands john key has there backs.

    • Yes, of course. As soon as you challenge the government you are a “troublemaker”. Well then, I am proud to be a troublemaker as well. Much rather be a troublemaker than a misogynistic liar like John Key. You really choose your heroes well, don’t you?

      • Hear hear Mike the Lefty – Same here.

        Troublemakers, whistleblowers, whatever you like to call them, are an integral part of society, but feared and despised by corrupt despots and their cronies. And there’s the reason NatzKEY and its motley supporters label Nicky Hager a troublemaker!

        Go the “troublemakers!”

    • What does that even mean, “has there (sic) backs”??

      If the economy takes a bit of a dip and you get made redundant, does Key “have your back” in the form of a safety net?

      Seen a WINZ office lately?

      If the property market bubble burst do you think Key will “have your back”?

      If your kids leave uni with a whopping debt do you think Key has their backs by creating the economic conditions to create jobs for them?

      If your kids find themselves offered only a job with a zero hours contract does Key have their backs then?

      It’s a meaningless statement really isn’t it.

    • Okay…

      Your grammar and spelling makes it a bit difficult to work out what you are actually trying to say. It could read as if posted by a leftie pointing out the outrage of all this, or a rightie giving a hooray for the cops hassling Hager.

      Try again and get mum to check it before you post it… 🙂

      • oh please a government for all new zealanders come off it look the only way too to get ahead is for one group to loose the poor the disfranchised john key understands this group don’t and wont vote so whats the point. no no no there room on planet key. we are in era where growth is no longer possible the haves need for huge profits can only come from asset and environmentally striping society SO stuck it up poor scum whos going to stop us.

    • What a moron. People with your narrow indoctrinated mindset would happily march your fellow citizens off to the gas chambers if the oppurtunity arose, just because they were dissenters.

    • Your comment is as confused as your chosen name, hence I give it the according “credit”, being none.

    • Are you serious RIGHT IS RIGHR?
      You must be kidding.
      If you were serious, you would be an accomplice in an appalling game.

    • @ right is righr . For Gods sake man. You’re not over at Whaleoil where spelling doesn’t matter because people there can barely read. Use your spell checker over here for Christ’s sake .

    • Right is Righr – the former USSR had it’s share of “trouble makers” and ended up in Labour Camps. In Pinochet’s Chile, they ended up tortured to death. Something tells me a person like you would fit very well into such a system.

    • Mate, I know someone said that 100 monkeys at keyboards would eventually turn out the Complete Works of Shakespeare, but one will never achieve much. Find another 99 and try again, you can do better.

    • “Hager is known trouble maker it polices to watch possible subverses. That threaten the. Status quo and most new zealanders will believe john key the facts don’t matter. ”

      Gibberish, mostly.

      But the point about “hager is known troublemaker” is fairly obvious.

      I’d rather have Hager watching my back than an illiterate, half-aware,National-sucking hillbilly who barely comprehends the English language, much less politics. Time to go back to feeding the chooks and pigs, Right.

    • Yes, it depends where the trail leads to, if it ever comes to light. And then it might take some time, but you are right, it’s a “long game’.

  8. Hagar is an irritant to Key and must be silenced just like John Campbell, freedom of speech is rapidly disappearing under JK and the Natzis.

    • @ Darth Smith re history repeats

      There is a big difference, USA in 1970s had a press that was doing its job.

  9. The police should be obligated to make a statement to the New Zealand public ( to whom they are suppose to serve ) as to why they undertook such a raid – that now has been shown to be illegal.
    I for one am waiting….

    • The Police, JK, Judith Collins and Crosby Textor will be having a strategy meeting over the weekend to put a lid on this one.

  10. More than anything I worry about the lack of MSM this has received, yes good interview on RNZ but what about TV nothing on TV3 that I saw. Disgraceful really. Thank goodness for the Nicky Hager’s of Aotearoa.

    • To be fair, TVNZ had it on One News the other night, they did report on Hager’s case and the court’s decision. So there is still a bit of a remnant of conscience in that otherwise much alienated “public” broadcaster.

    • On Radio NZ’s “Mediawatch” recently, the issue of msm not reporting on stories covered by other media was raised. It seems if a broadcaster didn’t break the story, it didn’t happen.

      That is yet another consequence of the commercialisation of the media.

  11. “Where would you expect that kind of headline?

    A third world banana republic? A harsh authoritarian middle eastern country, or soviet satellite state or CIA client government?”.

    Yes, it happened in New Zealand, the supposed “least corrupt” country in the world, as they try to make us believe.

    Indeed, it should start alarm bells ring in every informed and caring person’s mind, and it does in some of us, but sadly far too few people take note and care.

    Distraction, misinformation, brain washing, intimidation and various other forms of appalling things are done, and sadly the disemboweled media does to some degree participate in all this dumbing down we get 24/7.

    I have long observed how so much of what goes in here resembles stuff that you would think only happens in some kind of “banana republic”, and under our “Esteemed Great Leader”, who fools around (“horsing around” is his trivialising description of his behaviour) on commercial radio, he and his government, have made things worse than they have been for a damned long time.

    On one hand they lie to the people about “transparency” and “openness”, on the other they do the very opposite, and betray the honest, hard working and also many less fortunate people of this country. It is called double speak, or speaking with forked tongues, and Key is an expert in this, but constantly gets away with it.

    This court ruling is a win for Nicky Hager and all those that care about democracy, about the application of justice and fairness. But it is just a small win so far, as it seems there are still investigations going on, also involving Nicky and some others.

    Dirty Politics sent a stern warning to the government, and the constant trivialisation of the book by Hager, and the attempts to discredit the contents, that are efforts to also discredit Nicky and any other journalist or other person, who dares speak out and up.

    We even had a useless Ombudsman, who let the government off the hook with a report on the handling of OIA requests. I could not believe Beverley Wakem’s comments when the report was released. We have therefore no real watchdog, that actually does its job, and when we add all this together, it must chill many of us, how things really are.

    This country has not only lost much of its heart and soul, it is losing credit when it comes to the actions of government agencies, and that includes also the spy agencies, or intelligence agencies, as they are also closely cooperating with the NSA in the US, with British and Australian agencies, and they gather data on most of us, even if they may not closely look at it, much of it is likely to end up in large data warehouses in Utah, USA, where it can at any time be looked at again, to see who communicated with whom, and who did this, that and the other.

    When I hear Key and others speak, I always read between the lines, and between their words, it is often more important to note what they do not say, than to listen to what they say, which usually comes with spin and endless half truths and also blatant lies. It is time to be afraid, dear friends, time to be alert at all times, and time definitely to dig deeper into this rotten system that runs the show in NZ Aotearoa.

  12. Police are being used by a corrupt Government.

    This is akin to a banana republic.

    We should take heart that brave Judges still hold democracy as a valuable asset and rule these repressive tyrants out of order, for the common good of us all.

    We must all hold our rights as pivotal to speak out and not be bullied into submissive silence by this tyrannical out of control Governance.

    Great day this was Martyn.

  13. Ah ?

    ” … because his work had humiliated and embarrassed the Government. ”

    Yes, exactly. And the Government, no matter how completely fucked on so many levels it is, is THE STATUS QUO.

    The cops can’t change that. That’d be weird and police state-ish.

    Only the collective WE can change the status quo.

    If the collective We changed the status quo, the police would have to fall in step. That’s what the police must do within a democracy.

    If the police do not do that? Then it isn’t a democracy. It’s something else entirely. And I fear that’s where we’re headed. From the looks of it, we’ve just arrived.

    • Unfortunately in NZ the Police and the Government have forgotten that they are servants of the State and are employed by the taxpayers to uphold the law and to operate under high principles, and a good code of conduct.

      However it appears we are becoming a fiefdom under this current Government, similar to North Korea where the media is censored and we have a compliant Police Force, thankfully we still have a member of the Judiciary who has looked at this case with open eyes.

  14. NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS !!!

    God save the Key
    The fascist regime
    They made you a moron
    Potential H-bomb

    God save the Key
    He ain’t no human being
    There is no future
    And NZ’s dreaming

    Don’t be told what you want
    Don’t be told what you need
    There’s no future, no future,
    No future for you

    God save the Key
    We mean it man
    We love our Key
    God saves

    God save the Key
    ‘Cause tourists are money
    And our figurehead
    Is not what he seems

    Oh God save history
    God save your mad parade
    Oh Lord God have mercy
    All crimes are paid

    When there’s no future
    How can there be sin
    We’re the flowers in the dustbin
    We’re the poison in your human machine
    We’re the future, your future

    God save the Key
    We mean it man
    We love our Key
    God saves

    God save the Key
    We mean it man
    And there is no future
    And NZ’s dreaming

    No future, no future,
    No future for you
    No future, no future,
    No future for me

    No future, no future,
    No future for you
    No future, no future
    For you

    No future under this Key regime at any rate – the fascist regime !!!!

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