Rochelle Rees is a mother of a seven-year-old, an IT professional that drinks soy lattes and she’s pretty sure the police have been spying on her.
Evidence is mounting that over the last decade police and private investigator firm Thompson and Clark have been involved in increasingly sinister activities directed at activists, including surveillance and spying.
If true, this would be a serious blow to freedom of expression and assembly in New Zealand.
We rely on the police to keep us safe and be impartial, not to be undermining political protest and to dampen the effectiveness of democratic change.
Join us in asking Prime Minster Jacinda Arden for a full and independent inquiry into this dubious behaviour.
Rochelle stands up for what she believes in, the last thing she expected was that her activism would lead her here. Worried. Scared. Searching for the truth. Help make sure she gets it.
The evidence is mounting that over the last decade police and private investigator firm Thompson and Clark have been involved in increasingly sinister activities directed at activists, including surveillance and spying.
If true, this would be a serious blow to freedom of expression and assembly in New Zealand. It would damage the ability for people like us to safely speak out, a crucial part of a healthy democracy.
Recently investigative journalists Paula Penfold and Eugene Bingham released allegations that Thompson and Clark have a direct relationship with the New Zealand police that includes worrying conduct involving spying on activists.
This might be starting to sound like a story from an authoritarian country, that’s what I thought this morning when I read the allegations. It’s shocking that the police have seemingly been working to undermine political protest, to disrupt community organising and to dampen the effectiveness of democratic change. This is huge.
We rely on the police to keep us safe and be impartial. Until an inquiry happens, how can New Zealanders know what the police have been up to?
But, there is a way we can make this happen. We know the Government is currently looking into the alarming relationships between private spy firm Thompson and Clark and Government agencies. But, this inquiry doesn’t currently include the police. Together we can ensure it does.
You’ve done this before. Last year, after serious allegations revealed that the New Zealand Defence Force may have seriously breached people’s human rights, thousands of you asked for an inquiry. And you won, an inquiry is happening.
Now again, an organisation that is meant to keep New Zealanders safe may have totally overstepped. Together we can ensure that we get the truth. Sign the petition and demand that the inquiry is broadened to include the police and these most recent allegations.
old news we know big brother is always watching so act accordingly, thats what they do, just a bunch of perverts really anit ya big bro, back to sleep furry footed hobbits
This is a shocking story, that deserves a full government investigation and inquiry to stop these spying practises and work out what and where the spies have come from and who paid the investigators and was it legal.
All are naked before the Great Eye of Lolbags
Rochelle Rees is a mother of a seven-year-old, an IT
professional that drinks soy lattes and she’s pretty sure
the police have been spying on her.
Pretty sure eh, What is the definition of “pretty sure”
I am sure beyond reasonable doubt?
I am sure on the balance of probabilities?
I have anecdotal evidence that suggests they may be?
I have hearsay evidence they are?
I hope they are, it makes me feel like I have a good story?
Someone spiked my soy latte and I saw a SIS operative sitting on a unicorn?
What’s your point Gary? Apart from your classic unintelligent mocking of a woman, you have missed the point altogether. How is anyone to know if they are the subject of clandestine surveillance – especially illegal clandestine surveillance?
What we are starting to learn about and what we should all be very concerned about is that the Thompson and Clarke outfit has a cosy relationship with the Police that raises the big question – are they doing surveillance for the Police which the Police can’t? Not to mention of course the gross abuse of peoples’ rights by spying for the EQC on the victims of the Christchurch earthquake.
Gary, while it is difficult to follow your nonsense, you seem to support illegal surveillance on people simply because they are labelled as activists yet it is the activists of this world who have been brave enough to bring about changes to society many of which you take for granted.
A statement like “she is pretty sure the Police have been spying on her” deserves to be mocked, so I chose to do so.
Just because you are an activist and believe in what you are doing doesn’t give you an excuse to break the law.
And give me one example of a change bought about by an activist that I should not take for granted.
Where does it say that Rochelle broke the law or are you just making that assumption because she is an activist and it fits your narrow-minded narrative.
Anyway, here are some activists who broke the law and in doing so brought about change:
Nelson Mandela – His arrest and many years spent in prison brought about the break-down of apartheid. He is still held in high esteem.
Rosa Parks – the African American woman who refused to give up her seat to a white man. She helped bring about the dismantling of segregation.
Mahatma Gandhi – Indian activist leader of the movement against British rule. He spent many years in prison and is now revered for what he did.
Emeline Pankhurst – British political activist and leader of the suffragette movement arrested many times for breaking the then archaic laws. She helped break down discrimination shown towards women.
Dame Catherine Healey – once arrested for running a brothel in New Zealand worked tirelessly for prostitutes rights and has now rightly been recognised for her work. She helped bring about the decriminalisation of prostitution in NZ.
As for your response that the statement “that she is pretty sure…” deserves to be mocked – you still don’t get the point Gary.
Gary you are a narrow minded bigot. I’ll give you one example – the Maori activists who bravely stood up for their right to occupy Bastion point and who were arrested and humiliated by the state. It was a watershed moment in our history that brought about a great deal of change including the right of Maori to Bastion Point. If you don’t take that for granted then you are a racist too.
Have you read today’s edition of the NZ Herald which is currently profiling those magnificent women who brought about change?
In answer to your churlish and pathetic comment that being an activist and believing in what you do doesn’t give you an excuse to break the law – Falema’i Lesa who is profiled in the Herald today broke the law – believed she was a New Zealand citizen and stood up for herself. She was arrested by the Police in the dawn raids of the 1970s for overstaying and she was convicted. She stood by her principles and she appealed her conviction on the basis that she was in fact a New Zealand citizen.
Her case went all the way through to the Privy Council which in effect ruled that she was a NZ citizen along with 100,000 other Samoans.
We now have a diverse Samoan and Polynesian population and culture in this country.
So instead of attacking others you don’t agree with, with stupid questions, answer this one – do you embrace and therefore take for granted the rich Samoan and Polynesian culture we now have in this country as a result of the efforts of those like Falemai?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_Xz53hYA4I
T&C were also working with foreign governments, including foreign embassies, and the National government knew.
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