The Urewera Four

I see that the privacy commissioner has upheld the GCSB neither confirm or deny regarding request from those investigated in Operation 8 as to whether they were on the list of 85 people who were illegally the subject of GCSB surveillance. This is not surprising but the request for this official information should really be made under the criminal disclosure act as part of the criminal case. The issue of possible gcsb surveillance in operstion 8 is important. Why? Because if there was illegality involved it may have tipped the balance in the Supreme Court and resulted in the exclusion of the evidence which allowed the Urewera Four to be put on trial and convicted for the firearms offences and subsequently imprisoned. I am certain that there was involvement because from memory there where personnel involved in the police operation which counsel were not allowed to ask questions about. Also the unhealthy interest of the US embassy in the case and the fact that it was a terrorism investigation points to intelligence involvement at the highest level. So the answer here is to make a request for criminal disclosure pursuant to the court process which occurred. Criminal cases are never over and can be reopened by way of petition to the governor General at anytime.