Court update: October 15th raids
Appearance of one accused in the Tauranga District Court today
One of the arrestees in the state terror raids on Te Urewera has had his depositions hearing set down for 20 November 2008 in the District Court Tauranga when briefs of evidence will be handed up. The charges against Raunatiri Hunt were also amended by the Crown today: one was withdrawn and others laid. Hunt is one of the 20 people jointly charged with attending so-called ‘paramilitary-style training camps’ in Te Urewera.
He is the only one of the 20 defendants that has successfully challenged the Crown in moving the trial to Auckland. All of the other defendants have been remanded on bail until depositions hearing in the Auckland District Court starting on 1 September. These hearings are expected to last one month to six weeks.
If the charges are not thrown out, any trial would be unlikely to happen before the end of 2009 due to backlogs in the Auckland District Court.
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