Previous post hidden

I named in the previous post the two men charged with electoral fraud offences, in relation to the Auckland Council elections.

Since that post was done, they have appeared in court. They applied for name suppression and the Judge declined it.

They then appealed that decision to the High Court. As is usual, they got interim name suppression for 48 hours so the appeal can be heard. While I understand this is normal, I think in this case it is a bad call as another 48 hours of voting will carry on, without people knowing the identities of those charged – something which could affect how they vote. By the time they are named, it will be too late to post your vote in probably.

Those online will know, as they probably read it before it was deleted. But those watching the TV News tonight won’t get to find out who it is, and those reading the Herald tomorrow morning won’t get told the identity either.

However I don’t want to share a cell with Whale Oil, so I am respecting the law and have hidden the previous post and comments. I will make them public again once name suppression is lifted.

Very ironic that this happens on the day the Government announces it will be harder to get name suppression.