The family of a Waikato man killed in Tanzania say it is not true that the New Zealand Government pressured authorities there to arrest his wife for murder.
Mark Hammond says the Government has never acted as an advocate for the family of Cliff Cameron.
Mr Cameron's estranged wife, Kerstin, has been in jail in Tanzania for more than six months, accused of shooting him.
German-born Mrs Cameron insists he killed himself at her Arusha home.
Tanzanian police declared Mr Cameron's 1998 death suicide, but Mrs Cameron was arrested this year on the instructions of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Police have asked the courts that she be released as there is no evidence to support the charge.
Her arrest followed a written request by Don McKinnon, when he was Foreign Minister, to authorities in Tanzania to review the case.
Mr McKinnon's request was passed on by New Zealand's High Commissioner in Harare, Bruce Middleton, who has visited Tanzania several times about the case.
The Camerons were friends and constituents of Mr McKinnon's cabinet colleague Sir William Birch.
Usually a Government will not become involved in the internal affairs of another state.
Foreign Minister Phil Goff has said Mr McKinnon's actions were "unusual."
But he said he believed Mr McKinnon was acting in the best interests of a New Zealand family who had had a relative killed overseas.
National MP Bill English said this month that he was concerned Mr McKinnon's actions might have put pressure on Tanzania's Government to act. He had written to Mr Goff.
He said he wanted it made clear to authorities in Africa that the New Zealand Government had no interest in the investigation.
Friends of Mrs Cameron believe Mr McKinnon's actions have placed undue pressure on officials in Tanzania, but Mr Hammond said Mr Cameron's family did not agree.
He said the Government had been asked to act as a conduit for a private investigator's report, which had been passed to appropriate authorities in Tanzania.
"At no stage has the New Zealand Government acted as an advocate for the Cameron family in the bringing of a murder charge or placed any pressure on the Tanzanian Government. Both Governments have acted totally objectively and properly in all respects.
"The family firmly reject any assertions that there has been any intervention in the judicial process from the New Zealand Government. Their wish is that a fair trial be conducted so that closure on this tragic event can be achieved."
Mr Hammond said the family were also upset at criticisms of Mr Cameron's character by supporters of his estranged wife.
Affidavits signed by Mrs Cameron's friends describe Mr Cameron as a heavy drinker with a habit of playing with guns.
Mr Cameron's brother, former All Black Lachlan Cameron, previously said guns and alcohol were part of life in a remote Tanzanian town.
- NZPA
Family deny Govt pressure
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