KEY POINTS:
So now we know. Little surprise Solicitor-General David Collins said the evidence collected by police during the anti-terrorism raids was "very disturbing".
Until now, allegations by lawyers and supporters of those arrested that the police action was illegal, brutal, racist and violent have been largely unchallenged (with notable,
and surprising exceptions such as Chris Trotter). When Moana Jackson said police spread-eagled a mother on the ground and locked her screaming children in the shed for six hours without water, National Radio unquestioningly reported it.
Contempt of court or not, at least publication of the evidence gives us hard evidence, and it is terrifying.
I doubt any of the 180 or so people who purchased a half-page advertisement calling for the repeal of the anti-terrorism legislation, will buy equal space acknowledging they were wrong to state "it's not terrorism, it is democratic dissent".
We are familiar with many of the names that financed the ad.
They teach in our schools, polytechnics and universities, represent our workers, claim to be saving the environment, are current or past members of Parliament.
For example, Alison J. Laurie, Allison Webber, Anne Hunt, Claire-Louise McCurdy, Don Polly, Don Borrie, Fleur Fitzsimons, Jane Kelsey (who teaches law), Jeanette Fitzsimons, John Minto, Laila Harre, Liz Gordon, Maxine Gay, Prue Hyman - some of the people who say they are proud New Zealanders who supported or opposed Parihaka, women's suffrage (they'd be ancient now if that were true), miners' strikes, waterfront lockout, Manapouri campaign, Bastion Pt, anti-nuclear and Springbok tour protests, homosexual law reform, land marches, GE-free campaigns, and the foreshore and seabed marches.
How ironic that many are Pakeha - will they volunteer to be used as target practice in the name of democratic dissent?
Some of them, no doubt, are simpletons, eager to be seen as chic by adding their names to this advertisement. Like most of us, they possibly had no idea about the issues which led to the police taking action, arresting some 16 persons, and seeking - unsuccessfully due to defective legislation - to have some charged under the Suppression of Terrorism Act 2002.
As the Dominion Post editorialised, there will be some who dismiss the intercepted messages as "the empty talk of people with delusions of guerrilla grandeur" and they should not have been taken seriously.
Was this what Peter Williams, QC, means when he says some things people say are not meant to be taken seriously?
Other legal counsel, hitherto unknowns, grandstand with erroneous statements claiming they've filed contempt of court proceedings with the Solicitor-General, or their clients' right to fair trial is prejudiced.
Only the Solicitor-General can prosecute for contempt of court. Anyone facing charges under Arms Act sections with the right to a jury trial can apply for a judge-only trial, rather than face a jury if they think 12 good citizens can't be trusted to follow a judge's direction.
In England last week, a survey showed one-in-four English mosques sell hate literature, urging, for instance, sending women to hell for cutting their hair, killing anyone who abandons Islamic faith, attacking Jews and homosexuals.
But the Blair Government tolerated this ghastliness in its "outreach to the radicals" policy. Nobody protested much when the King of Saudi Arabia paid Britain a state visit, he who rules a country where women are publicly beaten for showing one centimetre of ankle, and possessing alcohol risks being beaten to death.
King Abdullah alleges British authorities ignored his country's warnings about the July 2005 Tube bombings and true or not, British people are now paying a terrible price for Blair's tolerance of diversity no matter how repugnant a political or religious belief.
We can all sleep safer here, knowing the authorities aren't ignoring warnings in this country.
Big names such as Kelsey, Minto and Fitzsimons won't agree but their foolish advertisement was written with all the self-righteousness of those who, like the former British PM, never admit they were wrong.