Protestors shut down courtroom

Stratford police were called in to help and media were asked to leave for their own safety as protesters shut down a Hawera courtroom on Tuesday.

About 80 people had gathered at court to protest the arrest of Hawera woman, Kiri Campbell. The judge refused to begin proceedings until a Maori flag, being waved by one of her supporters, was removed.

Kiri was charged with four counts of using a document to obtain a pecuniary advantage, as reported in the Stratford Pressa few weeks ago.

Claiming her inspiration was in part from a book by Mary Elizabeth Croft entitled How I clobbered every bureaucratic cash-confiscatory agency known to man Kiri has attracted supporters from around the world who share similar ideals and beliefs. Several blogs and websites encouraged protesters to turn up to court to support her.

Kiri, who has six children, made out a deposit slip to the sum of $15,000,000 and presented it at her bank in Hawera. She says that when she later checked her account balance, that sum showed up as a credit in her account.

Kiri argues that if the fact she was able to pay in money she did not actually have, to her account, is seen as fraud, then all banks are guilty of the same fraud as she argues this is a standard way that banks obtain funds.

Her arrest has attracted the attention of several international social media sites that argue along the same lines, as well as seeing her linked to the Maori sovereignty movement.