The 2007 New Zealand police raids were a series of armed police raids conducted on 15 and 16 October 2007, in response to alleged paramilitary training camps in the Urewera mountain range near the town of Ruatoki. About 300 police, including members of the Armed Offenders Squad and Special Tactics Group, were involved in the raids, which involved the execution of search warrants at various addresses throughout New Zealand, and the establishment of roadblocks at Ruatoki and Tāneatua. The police seized four guns and 230 rounds of ammunition and arrested eighteen people. According to police, the raids were a culmination of more than a year of surveillance that uncovered and monitored the training camps. The police were investigating potential breaches of the Terrorism Suppression Act. On 8 November 2007 the Solicitor-General, David Collins, declined to press charges under that legislation. Collins later described the legislation as "incoherent and unworkable", and said it was almost impossible to apply to domestic terrorism in New Zealand as it was too complex. According to then Prime Minister Helen Clark, one of the reasons police tried to lay charges under anti-terror legislation was because they could not use telephone interception evidence in prosecutions under the Arms Act. The raids were highly controversial and their legitimacy was debated by politicians, the media and the public. Hundreds of people participated in protests across New Zealand in the weeks following the raids. Of the eighteen people arrested, just four came to trial in February and March 2012, including Ngāi Tūhoe activist Tāme Iti. The defendants were found guilty on firearms charges. On the more serious charges of belonging to an organised criminal group, the jury was unable to agree. In March 2012, the cost to the taxpayer of the criminal proceedings, including legal aid and prosecution costs, was estimated to be well over NZ$6 million. The cost of the surveillance and the subsequent raids had previously been estimated to be over NZ$8 million. In May 2013, the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) published a report of its findings and recommendations following the investigation of complaints by individuals and organisations about police actions during the raids, particularly relating to road blocks and the execution of search warrants. The IPCA concluded that although the planning and preparation for the execution of search warrants was largely in accordance with policy, the planning and preparation for the establishment of road blocks in Ruatoki and Tāneatua was "deficient" and a number of aspects of the police raids were "contrary to law and unreasonable". The police spokesman for the Labour Party, which had been in government at the time of the raids, acknowledged that innocent people had been "unnecessarily frightened and intimidated". In 2014 the Police Commissioner formally apologised to the Ruatoki community and Ngāi Tūhoe for police actions during the raids. (en)
Las redadas antiterroristas de 2007 en Nueva Zelanda se realizaron el 15 de octubre de ese año mediante varios allanamientos en toda Nueva Zelanda en relación con el descubrimiento de un supuesto campo de entrenamiento de paramilitares enclavado en las cadenas montañosas de Urewera cerca de la ciudad de Ruatoki en la zona oriental de la Bahía de Plenty. Alrededor de 300 policías, incluidos miembros de las y escuadrones de lucha contra el terrorismo, estaban involucrados en los ataques en los que cuatro pistolas y 230 cartuchos de municiones fueron incautados y 17 personas detenidas, todos menos uno de ellos acusado de los delitos de armas de fuego. Según la policía las redadas fueron la culminación de más de un año de vigilancia que descubrió y supervisó los campos de entrenamiento. Se jecutaron órdenes de registro en el marco del Resumen de la Ley de procedimientos para la búsqueda de evidencias sobre posibles violaciones de la Ley de Represión contra el Terrorismo y la Ley de armas. El 29 de octubre la policía remite las pruebas reunidas durante las redadas al procurador general que considere si las tasas deben establecerse en virtud de la Ley de represión del terrorismo. La autorización de las actuaciones judiciales en virtud de la ley la dio el fiscal general (en la actualidad, Michael Cullen) aunque ha delegado esta responsabilidad al fiscal general, David Collins. El 8 de noviembre el fiscal general se negó a presentar cargos en virtud de la Ley de represión del terrorismo, a causa de las insuficiencias de la legislación. Según el primer ministro, Helen Clark, uno de las razones por las que la policía trató de establecer cargos en virtud de la legislación contra el terrorismo se debía a que no podían utilizar pruebas de interceptación telefónica en los juicios con arreglo a la Ley de Armas. * Datos: Q4609017 (es)
The 2007 New Zealand police raids were a series of armed police raids conducted on 15 and 16 October 2007, in response to alleged paramilitary training camps in the Urewera mountain range near the town of Ruatoki. About 300 police, including members of the Armed Offenders Squad and Special Tactics Group, were involved in the raids, which involved the execution of search warrants at various addresses throughout New Zealand, and the establishment of roadblocks at Ruatoki and Tāneatua. The police seized four guns and 230 rounds of ammunition and arrested eighteen people. According to police, the raids were a culmination of more than a year of surveillance that uncovered and monitored the training camps. (en)
Las redadas antiterroristas de 2007 en Nueva Zelanda se realizaron el 15 de octubre de ese año mediante varios allanamientos en toda Nueva Zelanda en relación con el descubrimiento de un supuesto campo de entrenamiento de paramilitares enclavado en las cadenas montañosas de Urewera cerca de la ciudad de Ruatoki en la zona oriental de la Bahía de Plenty. * Datos: Q4609017 (es)