The suppressed information

This is the text of the leaflet handed out by women in Wellington in April 2006 after Clint Rickards, Bob Schollum and Brad Shipton were found 'not guilty'. [ Feature April 06 ]

We Believe Louise Nicholas

Clint Rickards, Bob Schollum and Brad Shipton were found not guilty of raping Louise Nicholas. The jury deliberated for three days before reaching this verdict.
Bob Schollum and Brad Shipton are both currently in jail for rape, they were convicted in a pack rape case late last year. The jury weren't allowed to know this as their names were suppressed. Another woman had been raped by these men, another woman had been raped with a police baton by these men, but the jury weren't told.
During the trial Louise Nicholas' past was considered relevant and the defense atttacked her for it. But the past of the defendants was suppressed. We broke name suppression because we want rape survivors in this country to get justice. Louise Nicholas was incredibly brave and strong to stand up against her attackers when they held such positions of power. It's a travesty that the evidence that would show she was telling the truth never made it to court.

Bob Schollum and Brad Shipton are Convicted Rapists

In a second leaflet, the women wrote "We have decided for the mean time not to distribute the information we believe should have been available to the jury of the latest police rape case brought by Louise Nicholas. By way of education and publicity work, we will continue to challenge the culture of secrecy which surrounds police rape in this country. Because of this system we can’t even tell you why we will not be distributing this information. We can tell you that the justice system seriously disadvantages rape survivors, putting their past on trial while hiding relevant information about the accused."

The women stopped handing out the first flyer because they were told future cases might get thrown out if suppression orders are breached. It is not clear at this stage if Rickards, Shipton and Schollum are going back to court on further charges.

Two Christchurch activists were found guilty of breaching suppression orders in November and fined $900 and $450. [ More ] A Wellington activst had her charges of breaching suppression orders dropped only yesterday (28th Feb. 07)!