Other formats

    Adobe Portable Document Format file (facsimile images)   TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Volume 36, Number 4. 21st March 1973

Protest earnt Ten Days

Protest earnt Ten Days

Netana Te Ringa Mangu Mihaka (Nathan Mihaka to the "Evening Post" is currently serving ten days imprisonment. On the 16th of March he was convicted for contempt of court. He had protested (twice) from the court gallery when two Maori youths appeared without representation.

In his defence Mihaka stated that it hurt him to see young Maori people appearing in the dock without representation or adequate knowledge of legal proceedings.

Mr Wicks S.M. stated that people without knowledge of procedure or representation were properly catered for. Mihaka denied this, saying that such people were usually "intimidated by the whole setup". When Mihaka refused to apologize for his actions he was convicted and sentenced to ten days jail.

The Nelson Race Relations Action group, authors of the paper "Justice and Race" (published in the first issue of Salient 1973) have already protested the jailing, pointing out that the incident only proved the conclusions of their report; that New Zealand courts are racist in their operation.

Mihaka was quite correct in stating that Maori Youth are intimidated by court procedure. There is nothing in the courtroom calculated to inspire confidence or hope. Many working class youths, Maori and otherwise are unrepresented by counsel. The legal aid system that some defendants are provided with is more often than not a mere token defence.

Mihaka was jailed for telling the truth.