KEY POINTS:
A majority of New Zealanders support media who released evidence police had gathered in the so-called "terror raids" and believe those charged will still get a fair trial, a survey has found.
A nationwide survey by UMR Research showed 57 per cent of people supported the media's action, even though the courts prohibited any release of the evidence.
The survey also found that almost two-thirds (64 per cent) of those surveyed believed those arrested could get a fair trial, despite the release of the prohibited evidence.
Sixteen people were arrested after what were described as police raids on suspected weapons-training camps.
However, Solicitor-General David Collins decided last month against authorising prosecutions under the Terrorism Suppression Act leaving the accused facing firearms relatd offences only.
UMR director Tim Grafton said the results suggested most people believed that public interest surrounding the case should override the courts ban on the release of the evidence.
However, a significant minority (31 per cent) opposed the release of the evidence by the media.
Among Maori, more people supported the release of the evidence (46 per cent) than opposed its release (38 per cent).
"As the Maori sub-sample in the survey is relatively small at 82 respondents, care needs to be taken drawing firm conclusions from those results as the margin for error is almost 11 per cent," Mr Grafton said.
While a slight majority of Maori (53 per cent) thought those arrested could get a fair trial, their confidence was significantly below that of others with 66 per cent thinking they could get a fair trial, he said.
The news stories about the police arrests, the subsequent hikoi to Parliament and the Solicitor-General's decision not to prosecute under the Suppression of Terrorism Act were also issues that most people (59 per cent) followed closely, he said.
The telephone poll was conducted between November 22 to 28 November and had a margin of error of plus 3.6 per cent for the total sample and plus 10.8 per cent for the Maori sub-sample.
- NZPA
