True cost of Urewera case closer to $14 million

'Urewera Four' will not be re-tried
The "Urewera Four'' will not be re-tried on a charge of belonging to an organised criminal group.

APNZ understands that the Crown will file an application for a stay of proceedings relating to the charge which a High Court jury failed to return a unanimous verdict on in March.

The stay of proceedings - to be filed at the High Court at Auckland tomorrow - means that no retrial will go ahead.

The pantomime of farce that the Police used to try and convict the so called Urewera terrorists has come to a sad and sorry end that should serve as a constant reminder of what happens when you don't have enough internal checks and balances on the Police.

The cost to the taxpayer for this fiasco is utterly intolerable. Forget the visible $6 million in legal costs that eclipses any legal case before this, it's the secret $8 million in surveillance costs hidden from public view in the budgets of the GCSB and the SIS that need to be added, meaning this entire fiasco is actually closer to costing us $14 million!

It isn't just this disgusting cost financially and socially that must be worn by the rest of us, we also have to accept the Police gaining the power to break into our homes and spy on us with minimal judicial oversight after the National Party passed retrospective law under urgency to put a legal fig leaf over ongoing Police surveillance tactics that were shown to be illegal.

On top of that horrible reality is news that John Key has now threatened NZ with a new set of domestic terror powers.

So we have to accept vast increases in State Power because of Police paranoia with even further erosions of our civil liberties flagged while picking up the tab of $14 million?

Our cop worship culture is now allowing corrupt power to corrupt even further.

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