Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Urewera trial: Surveillance video shown to jury

By Edward Gay
Rotorua Daily Post·
14 Feb, 2012 02:34 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article

Surveillance video footage showing people in balaclavas with rifles walking through the Urewera bush has been played to the jurors in the Urewera trial.

The footage, captured by a police operation, was part of the Crown's opening address in the High Court at Auckland today.

One of the videos shows a group of people getting out of a 4WD.

"It is about evacuating a vehicle under fire," Crown prosecutor Ross Burns said.

The video shows one man getting out of the car and crouching behind the bonnet with a rifle at his shoulder. Several other people rush out of the car and run out of camera shot.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"In comes the instructor to talk to them further ... It's really hard to see any lawful purpose for that kind of exercise."

Tame Wairere Iti, Te Rangikaiwhira Kemara, Emily Felicity Bailey and Urs Signer are alleged to have been involved in military-type training camps in the Urewera Ranges.

They have denied charges of belonging to a criminal organisation and possessing guns.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Other videos of the group show people walking through the bush. Some are armed with guns.

"You might wonder why they're hiding [their faces] from each other if they think that what they're doing is lawful," Mr Burns said.

He said two police officers, pretending to jog through the area of one of the training camps, found an old stove that had been used for target practice and had had molotov cocktails thrown at it.

Tame Iti was the organiser, the "common thread", Mr Burns said.

He said the Tuhoe political activist had a Plan A and a Plan B.

"The Plan A on the face of it seems to be negotiation. If negotiation was not successful, he would resort to Plan B and that is what the revolutionary military wing training was for."

He said an intercepted computer conversation from Iti's computer captured Iti talking to another man about a "revolutionary military wing of Aotearoa".

"Its not pub talk," Mr Burns said.

Another conversation quoted Iti as saying: "We're planning to war if we have to".

The jury has also been shown Tuhoe Lambert's diary.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Lambert had been charged with the group but has since passed away.

Mr Burns said Lambert had made two trips to Vietnam, had been a trainer with the New Zealand Army and oversaw the military training of the group.

He said the diary showed a planned training camp that included ambushes and sweeping down on targets.

He said the camps were given a code name "rama" which means 100 eels by torch light.

Mr Burns said the camps were discussed in encrypted code on internet chat sites.

He said police also found training documents which they say are written in Signer's handwriting.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

It includes alleged training exercises for attacking a building and ambushing.

He said the map also used the word "urupatu" which is used to describe the scorched earth policy in the Ureweras in the 1860s. A member of the public gallery cut in: "Yes, by the Crown".

Lawyers for the defence are expected to deliver their opening arguments this afternoon before the Crown begins calling witnesses.

-APNZ

Save
    Share this article

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Daily Post

NZ's ugliest trophy? 105 year-old rugby cup on the line in Rotorua

Rotorua Daily Post

Red red wine: UB40 to headline Bay Oval's first music festival

Rotorua Daily Post

Former high school sweethearts bring dream to life


Sponsored

Revealed: The night driving ‘red flag’

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

NZ's ugliest trophy? 105 year-old rugby cup on the line in Rotorua
Rotorua Daily Post

NZ's ugliest trophy? 105 year-old rugby cup on the line in Rotorua

The Peace Cup was inaugurated to mark the end of World War I.

08 Aug 06:00 AM
Red red wine: UB40 to headline Bay Oval's first music festival
Rotorua Daily Post

Red red wine: UB40 to headline Bay Oval's first music festival

08 Aug 04:00 AM
Former high school sweethearts bring dream to life
Rotorua Daily Post

Former high school sweethearts bring dream to life

08 Aug 03:30 AM


Revealed: The night driving ‘red flag’
Sponsored

Revealed: The night driving ‘red flag’

04 Aug 11:37 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP