Wreaths were laid at several war memorials around the country today as part of the official wreath laying in some centres and separate events in other centres.
Pictures from Christchurch are below – the wreath is of olive branches.
The inscription speaks for itself:
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It is good to know that in some centres people were allowed the freedom to take an anti-war stance on Anzac Day. On that day I was in Coromandel town where I was arrested and taken away in handcuffs by the New Zealand Police for silently holding up signs on which were written “LEST WE FORGET GAZA” and “REMEMBER SURAFEND”. The alleged charge was “disturbing the peace”, yet there had been no disturbance before police arrived, and there was no disturbance following their arrival if one discounts the actual arrest, to which I offered no resistance. People of the town had thanked me for taking a stand on the Gaza genocide. A returned soldier had commended me on my “bravery”. After I was arrested a local woman took the signs and laid them at the foot of the soldiers’ memorial in Coromandel, where they remained undisturbed until I was released by police later in the morning. The police had to release me because there was no case in law for arresting me in the first place. I believe that the arrest was carried out for purely political reasons in pursuance of the Luxon government’s efforts to stifle the burgeoning public backlash against the genocide in which the Realm of New Zealand is complicit. To truly honour those who “died to keep us free” we need to prevent Christopher Luxon from turning New Zealand into a police state.
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