WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND – Press freedom has won a massive victory as the New Zealand’s High Court ruled in favor of independent journalist Nicky Hager in his case against the government for seizing his family’s possessions in a house raid in 2014.
Wellington High Court judge Justice Clifford has found the police raid on Hager in October, was illegal, declaring it “fundamentally unlawful.” Concerns were expressed in Court about other aspects of police conduct with future hearings to follow on costs and damages.
In 2014, at the time of the raid, Hager was working on key stories regarding the relationship between the NSA and the intelligence services in New Zealand. The stories were based on Snowden documents via The Intercept, where he had been given access to some of those papers, according to Glenn Greenwald.
The prominent independent journalist was also responsible for his revealing book Dirty Politics that led to the resignation of New Zealand’s Justice Minister. The release of the book coincided with the last elections and showed strong TTP advocate, Prime Minister John Key’s administration to be “feeding information to a far right-wing blog in an attempt to smear its opponents.” The book was hailed an “election bombshell” at the time, by the NZ Herald.
New Zealand’s 38th Prime Minister, John Key, 2008 – current
At the time of the search, Hager was lecturing at the University of Auckland. “Soon after the police arrived, the lead detective stated that I was not a suspect in their case, merely a witness.” Hager said in his account. “Nonetheless, he and his four colleagues seized a large collection of papers and electronic equipment belonging to my family, including computers, drives, phones, CDs, an IPOD and a camera.”
According to Hager’s account to the NZ Herald, he was challenged by police to reveal his Dirty Politics sources and “any other source”, which he refused to divulge. “”I believe the police actions are dangerous for journalism in New Zealand,” Hager stated during the interview.
Hager’s legal defense was partially crowd-funded with the help of Freedom of the Press Foundation raising over $23,000. The High Court’s decision is a positive step for New Zealand journalism, setting a precedent for protecting sources within investigative reporting, and legal protection for the author.
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