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The 2007 New Zealand raids were a series of armed police arrests conducted on Monday, 15 October 2007, in response to the discovery of an alleged paramilitary training camp in the Urewera mountain range near the town of Ruatoki in the eastern Bay of Plenty. About 300 police, including members of the Armed Offenders Squad and Special Tactics Group, were involved in the arrests〔((cached 21 October 2007 ))〕 in which four guns and 230 rounds of ammunition were seized and 17 people arrested, all but one of them charged with firearms offences. According to police, the raids were a culmination of more than a year of surveillance that uncovered and monitored the training camps. Search warrants were executed under the Summary Proceedings Act to search for evidence relating to potential breaches of the Terrorism Suppression Act and the Arms Act. On 29 October, police referred evidence gathered during the raids to the Solicitor-General to consider whether charges should be laid under the Terrorism Suppression Act. Authorisation for prosecutions under the Act is given by the Attorney-General though he has delegated this responsibility to Solicitor-General David Collins. On 8 November the Solicitor-General declined to press charges under the Terrorism Suppression Act, because of inadequacies of the legislation. According to Helen Clark, the Prime Minister at the time of the raids, 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. Four of the people arrested came to trial in February–March 2012, and were found guilty on some firearms charges. On more serious charges of belonging to an organised criminal group, the jury was unable to agree. The cost to the taxpayer, including legal aid and prosecution costs, was estimated to be well over $6 million.〔(Urewera costs $6m and climbing ), Stff website 22 March 2012〕 ==Background== Ngāi Tūhoe had long-held grievances against the Crown, particularly over land, including the land that now forms the Te Urewera National Park.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=5. Resistance: 1866 to 1872 – Ngāi Tūhoe – Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand )〕 Police commissioner Howard Broad said the raids were conducted in the interest of public safety, but declined to outline the nature of the threat.〔 Seventeen people were arrested in the raids, the most notable being veteran Māori/Ngāi Tūhoe activist Tame Iti, who grew up and has lived much of his life in Ruatoki.〔 Police documents allege Iti was preparing for an IRA-style "war on New Zealand" to establish an independent state on traditionally Tūhoe land.〔("The Terrorism Files:, Dominion Post, 14 November 2007 )〕 According to a ''Dominion Post'' report, Iti's group, named "Rama" – the Maori word for enlightenment – consisted of about 20 people including former New Zealand Army soldiers, some of whom had fought in the Vietnam War, as well as several members in their late teens. The group's methods were allegedly derived from the IRA's Green Book training manual. ''The Dominions source described the group as "comical" and "amateurish."〔 ((cached 22 October 2007 ))〕 An "open invitation" to the training camps had been sent to sympathetic activists. A Christchurch activist who claims to have attended said he was "overwhelmed" and "a bit freaked out" by their military-style practices.〔 ((cached 22 October 2007 ))〕 The owner of Christchurch gun dealer Gun City, which is supposed to have supplied about 5% of the group's supplies "including a gun cabinet and magazines", claimed much of what was seized was not useful for a terrorist attack, and that the media had sensationalised the events. He pointed to media descriptions of a plastic paintball "landmine" as a landmine. The Officials Committee for Domestic and External Security Co-ordination (ODESC), a government group, was also involved in the operation.〔((cached 21 October 2007 ))〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「2007 New Zealand police raids」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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