Tim Selwyn
Encyclopedia
Tim Selwyn is a New Zealand
political activist who was found guilty of sedition
on 8 June 2006, the first person charged with sedition in New Zealand for more than 30 years. He is also editor of Tumeke! magazine, has a blog with the same name.
He was sentenced to two months imprisonment for sedition and for conspiracy to commit wilful damage on 19 July 2006. Letters he wrote from prison were posted on his blog, prompting criticism and questions in Parliament from National's Corrections spokesman Simon Power
.http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411366/799139http://tumeke.blogspot.com/2006/08/here-is-what-was-said-about-this-site.html Selwyn was also investigated by other government agencies after his initial arrest and was sentenced to a further 15 months for dishonesty offences against various government departments involving his theft of the identity of a dead baby and several other dead people, among other offences, http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10391914http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10391812 - and a further 25 months for tax offences (on 14 February 2007). He was released from prison in October 2007.http://tumeke.blogspot.com/2007/09/guess-who-is-back-back-again-tim-is.html
Selwyn has previously attracted controversy. In 1996, he was imprisoned (but then released on appeal of sentence) for falsifying nomination signatures and was forced to resign as a member of the Glenfield Community Board, to which he had been elected unopposed the previous year. http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3694375a11,00.html He also wrote articles in Craccum
criticising suicide
prevention workershttp://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0003/S00027.htm and explaining how to rip off the student loan system; the former being condemned by the New Zealand Press Council
in a ruling as "consistently irresponsible and malicious." http://www.presscouncil.org.nz/display_ruling.asp?casenumber=783 - a decision Selwyn later criticised as "ill-considered and hypocritical."http://tumeke.blogspot.com/2005/10/secret-government-and-their-agents.html Selwyn has previously been a member of the ACT Party, but more recently has supported the Maori Party
http://spanblather.blogspot.com/2005/08/probably-not-toeing-party-line-but.html#comment-112479384641354244.
through the Auckland electorate office window of then-Prime Minister
Helen Clark
over the foreshore and seabed controversy
on 18 November 2004.http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=350&objectid=3611511 He pleaded guilty to being party to a conspiracy to commit wilful damage in 2005http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10330854 and said "Intentional damage is one thing, but attempting to criminalise speech and conscience is quite another... If the Crown is intent on using war-time offences to subdue people who oppose the government theft of native property and rights then they are opening the door to Pandora's box."http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0505/S00281.htm
Sedition is defined within New Zealand as being "speech, writing or behaviour intended to encourage rebellion or resistance against the government". Selwyn was charged under section 81(1)(c) of the New Zealand Crimes Act 1961
, which forbids any publication which intends to "incite, procure, or encourage violence, lawlessness, or disorder". The New Zealand Police
cite the pamphlet Confiscation Day as being seditious.
Selwyn admitted being in the vicinity of the electorate office that morning, and that he participated in the composition and distribution of both versions of the statements which explained that the protest was a symbolic act and also called upon "like-minded New Zealanders" (in the Confiscation Day statement) to take "similar action" of their own. During his trial Selwyn refused to answer questions concerning the other people involved.
Selwyn appealed against the sedition conviction, calling the decision "dangerous and undemocratic" http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/latest/200606081845/8635c7 and having serious implications for freedom of speech
http://www.tv3.co.nz/News/tabid/67/articleID/9221/Default.aspx. However, Judge Josephine Bouchier said when summing up that Selwyn knew the documents were unlawful and intended to encourage lawlessness and disorder, and the police were quoted as saying the verdict was a "victory for society". http://www.tv3.co.nz/News/tabid/67/articleID/9221/Default.aspx
Selwyn's appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeal on 4 April 2007 - the day before the NZ Law Commission, chaired by former Prime Minister, Sir Geoffrey Palmer, released its report into seditious offences.http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=171&objectid=10432813 The report http://www.lawcom.govt.nz/ProjectReport.aspx?ProjectID=128 recommended a complete repeal. The report said the current law was "an unjustifiable breach of the right of freedom of expression" and that "they have been inappropriately used in New Zealand in times of political unrest and perceived threats to established authority. They have been used to fetter vehement and unpopular political speech. The time has come to remove the seditious offences from the New Zealand statute book."
After much criticism of the sedition prosecution the Green Party, http://www.greens.org.nz/searchdocs/PR9878.html United Future, Act, and the Maori Party committed themselves to abolition http://www.freespeech.org.nz/section14/2007/04/24/minor-parties-call-for-sedition-repeal/ and a bill based on the Law Commission's findings was introduced to parliament with the government's backing on 8 June 2007 that would repeal all seditious offences from 1 January 2008.http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/Legislation/Bills/c/f/7/00DBHOH_BILL7948_1-Crimes-Repeal-of-Seditious-Offences-Amendment-Bill.htm During debate on the bill the Justice Minister Mark Burton
described Selwyn's case as "famous, and some would say infamous" and Maori party MP Hone Harawira
said of Selwyn's situation: "The Government passes legislation to steal away people’s rights and then it charges people with sedition for daring to oppose such theft... for daring to speak up for the Treaty... and for daring to speak out for human rights."http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/Debates/Debates/e/a/6/48HansD_20071023_00000827-Crimes-Repeal-of-Seditious-Offences-Amendment.htm His colleague Tariana Turia
read out the full text of Confiscation Day in parliament.http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/Debates/Debates/b/3/d/48HansD_20071010_00001403-Crimes-Repeal-of-Seditious-Offences-Amendment.htm The bill was passed 114-7 (New Zealand First against) on 24 October 2007.http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/Debates/Debates/c/b/2/48HansD_20071024_00000979-Crimes-Repeal-of-Seditious-Offences-Amendment.htm
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
political activist who was found guilty of sedition
Sedition
In law, sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent to lawful authority. Sedition may include any...
on 8 June 2006, the first person charged with sedition in New Zealand for more than 30 years. He is also editor of Tumeke! magazine, has a blog with the same name.
He was sentenced to two months imprisonment for sedition and for conspiracy to commit wilful damage on 19 July 2006. Letters he wrote from prison were posted on his blog, prompting criticism and questions in Parliament from National's Corrections spokesman Simon Power
Simon Power
Simon James Power is a New Zealand politician. He is a prominent member of the National Party and a cabinet minister. He currently holds the posts of Minister of Justice, Minister for State Owned Enterprises, Minister of Commerce, Minister Responsible for the Law Commission andAssociate Minister...
.http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411366/799139http://tumeke.blogspot.com/2006/08/here-is-what-was-said-about-this-site.html Selwyn was also investigated by other government agencies after his initial arrest and was sentenced to a further 15 months for dishonesty offences against various government departments involving his theft of the identity of a dead baby and several other dead people, among other offences, http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10391914http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10391812 - and a further 25 months for tax offences (on 14 February 2007). He was released from prison in October 2007.http://tumeke.blogspot.com/2007/09/guess-who-is-back-back-again-tim-is.html
Selwyn has previously attracted controversy. In 1996, he was imprisoned (but then released on appeal of sentence) for falsifying nomination signatures and was forced to resign as a member of the Glenfield Community Board, to which he had been elected unopposed the previous year. http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3694375a11,00.html He also wrote articles in Craccum
Craccum
Craccum is the weekly magazine produced by the Auckland University Students' Association of the University of Auckland, New Zealand. It was founded in 1927...
criticising suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
prevention workershttp://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0003/S00027.htm and explaining how to rip off the student loan system; the former being condemned by the New Zealand Press Council
New Zealand Press Council
The New Zealand Press Council is a Non Governmental Organisation which exists to uphold standards in the New Zealand print media and promote freedom of speech in New Zealand. Founded in 1975, it is enabled to hear complaints against newspapers and other publications, particularly regarding...
in a ruling as "consistently irresponsible and malicious." http://www.presscouncil.org.nz/display_ruling.asp?casenumber=783 - a decision Selwyn later criticised as "ill-considered and hypocritical."http://tumeke.blogspot.com/2005/10/secret-government-and-their-agents.html Selwyn has previously been a member of the ACT Party, but more recently has supported the Maori Party
Maori Party
The Māori Party, a political party in New Zealand, was formed on 7 July 2004. The Party is guided by eight constitutional "kaupapa", or Party objectives. Tariana Turia formed the Māori Party after resigning from the Labour Party where she had been a Cabinet Minister in the Fifth Labour-led...
http://spanblather.blogspot.com/2005/08/probably-not-toeing-party-line-but.html#comment-112479384641354244.
Sedition controversy
Selwyn was arrested on charges of sedition and wilful damage in relation to throwing an axeAxe
The axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood; to harvest timber; as a weapon; and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol...
through the Auckland electorate office window of then-Prime Minister
Prime Minister of New Zealand
The Prime Minister of New Zealand is New Zealand's head of government consequent on being the leader of the party or coalition with majority support in the Parliament of New Zealand...
Helen Clark
Helen Clark
Helen Elizabeth Clark, ONZ is a New Zealand political figure who was the 37th Prime Minister of New Zealand for three consecutive terms from 1999 to 2008...
over the foreshore and seabed controversy
New Zealand foreshore and seabed controversy
The New Zealand foreshore and seabed controversy is a debate in the politics of New Zealand. It concerns the ownership of the country's foreshore and seabed, with many Māori groups claiming that Māori have a rightful claim to title. These claims are based around historical possession and the Treaty...
on 18 November 2004.http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=350&objectid=3611511 He pleaded guilty to being party to a conspiracy to commit wilful damage in 2005http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10330854 and said "Intentional damage is one thing, but attempting to criminalise speech and conscience is quite another... If the Crown is intent on using war-time offences to subdue people who oppose the government theft of native property and rights then they are opening the door to Pandora's box."http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0505/S00281.htm
Sedition is defined within New Zealand as being "speech, writing or behaviour intended to encourage rebellion or resistance against the government". Selwyn was charged under section 81(1)(c) of the New Zealand Crimes Act 1961
Crimes Act 1961
The Crimes Act 1961 is an Act of the Parliament of New Zealand administered by the Ministry of Justice.-Amendments:The Homosexual Law Reform Act 1986 amended the Crimes Act, allowing for consensual homosexual relationships between men....
, which forbids any publication which intends to "incite, procure, or encourage violence, lawlessness, or disorder". The New Zealand Police
New Zealand Police
The New Zealand Police is the national police force of New Zealand, responsible for enforcing criminal law, enhancing public safety, maintaining order and keeping the peace throughout New Zealand...
cite the pamphlet Confiscation Day as being seditious.
Selwyn admitted being in the vicinity of the electorate office that morning, and that he participated in the composition and distribution of both versions of the statements which explained that the protest was a symbolic act and also called upon "like-minded New Zealanders" (in the Confiscation Day statement) to take "similar action" of their own. During his trial Selwyn refused to answer questions concerning the other people involved.
Selwyn appealed against the sedition conviction, calling the decision "dangerous and undemocratic" http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/latest/200606081845/8635c7 and having serious implications for freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
http://www.tv3.co.nz/News/tabid/67/articleID/9221/Default.aspx. However, Judge Josephine Bouchier said when summing up that Selwyn knew the documents were unlawful and intended to encourage lawlessness and disorder, and the police were quoted as saying the verdict was a "victory for society". http://www.tv3.co.nz/News/tabid/67/articleID/9221/Default.aspx
Selwyn's appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeal on 4 April 2007 - the day before the NZ Law Commission, chaired by former Prime Minister, Sir Geoffrey Palmer, released its report into seditious offences.http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=171&objectid=10432813 The report http://www.lawcom.govt.nz/ProjectReport.aspx?ProjectID=128 recommended a complete repeal. The report said the current law was "an unjustifiable breach of the right of freedom of expression" and that "they have been inappropriately used in New Zealand in times of political unrest and perceived threats to established authority. They have been used to fetter vehement and unpopular political speech. The time has come to remove the seditious offences from the New Zealand statute book."
After much criticism of the sedition prosecution the Green Party, http://www.greens.org.nz/searchdocs/PR9878.html United Future, Act, and the Maori Party committed themselves to abolition http://www.freespeech.org.nz/section14/2007/04/24/minor-parties-call-for-sedition-repeal/ and a bill based on the Law Commission's findings was introduced to parliament with the government's backing on 8 June 2007 that would repeal all seditious offences from 1 January 2008.http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/Legislation/Bills/c/f/7/00DBHOH_BILL7948_1-Crimes-Repeal-of-Seditious-Offences-Amendment-Bill.htm During debate on the bill the Justice Minister Mark Burton
Mark Burton
Richard Mark Burton is a New Zealand politician. He is a member of the Labour Party. He served as Minister of Defence; Minister of Justice; Minister of Local Government; Minister in Charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations; Deputy Leader of the House; and the Minister Responsible for the Law...
described Selwyn's case as "famous, and some would say infamous" and Maori party MP Hone Harawira
Hone Harawira
Hone Pani Tamati Waka Nene Harawira is a New Zealand Māori activist and parliamentarian. He was elected to the Parliament of New Zealand for the Māori electorate of Te Tai Tokerau in the 2005 general election as the Māori Party candidate. His resignation caused the Te Tai Tokerau by-election, held...
said of Selwyn's situation: "The Government passes legislation to steal away people’s rights and then it charges people with sedition for daring to oppose such theft... for daring to speak up for the Treaty... and for daring to speak out for human rights."http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/Debates/Debates/e/a/6/48HansD_20071023_00000827-Crimes-Repeal-of-Seditious-Offences-Amendment.htm His colleague Tariana Turia
Tariana Turia
Tariana Turia is a New Zealand politician. She gained considerable prominence during the foreshore and seabed controversy, and eventually broke with her party as a result...
read out the full text of Confiscation Day in parliament.http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/Debates/Debates/b/3/d/48HansD_20071010_00001403-Crimes-Repeal-of-Seditious-Offences-Amendment.htm The bill was passed 114-7 (New Zealand First against) on 24 October 2007.http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/Debates/Debates/c/b/2/48HansD_20071024_00000979-Crimes-Repeal-of-Seditious-Offences-Amendment.htm
External links
- Tumeke! - Tumeke magazine website
- Tumeke! - Selwyn's blog
- No Right Turn Sedition series - blog
- Sedition Law - New Zealand Crimes Act 1961
- The Queen v Timothy Selwyn 2007 NZCA 123