Will Key be responsible for political imprisonment of Pete Bethune?

The Key Government must act fast to obtain the information required for the Maritime New Zealand investigation into the alleged ramming of the Ady Gil. This information is critical to New Zealand citizen Peter Bethune’s trial scheduled for the end of this month, the Green Party said today.

“Japan has refused to cooperate and either has something to hide or is making a deliberate attempt to thwart the course of justice for NZ citizen Peter Bethune,” Green Party Oceans Spokesperson Gareth Hughes said.

“Pete needs the results of the Maritime NZ investigation for defence in his trial, but it seems thus far that he has been all but abandoned by the Government. To all intents and purposes, the Key Government has relinquished NZ jurisdiction and has left Pete at the mercy of a highly political Japanese trial.

“Key has indicated that he thinks the Japanese Ambassador is coming in this week to meet with Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully. This comes after five months of the Government dragging its heals in the campaign to free Pete Bethune.

“In April, I asked Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully what diplomatic action he was taking to assist with the investigation. He replied that he had delegated this task to his staff at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and that he had registered his concern with Japan shortly after the incident.

“Once? In January? This is unacceptable. Minister McCully needs to see the link between the Maritime New Zealand Investigation, and the pending trial of New Zealand citizen Peter Bethune.

“If the Key Government allows the Japanese Government to deliberately suppress information that could have a massive bearing on Peter Bethune’s trial, it is contributing to a travesty of justice that could see a NZ citizen jailed for up to 15 years for political motivations,” Mr Hughes said.


LINKS

Question for Written Answer
http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/Business/QWA/b/2/3/QWA_03983_2010-3983-2010-Gareth-Hughes-to-the-Minister-of-Foreign.htm