Solicitor-General David Collins QC told the High Court at Wellington yesterday that Fairfax New Zealand Ltd and Dominion Post editor Tim Pankhurst were in contempt of court by publishing in November last year 13 extracts from police surveillance of people suspected of terrorism.
The police evidence was collected during last year's raids near Whakatane. No prosecution has been made under the Suppression of Terrorism Act, and the evidence is not able to be used in lesser cases, such as charges made under the Arms Act against an initial 16 people following the raids.
The Fairfax articles were in a league of their own when it came to instances of contempt, Dr Collins said.
They were "the most serious and inexcusable breaches of an accused's fair trial rights that this country has seen".
The trial, before Justice Warwick Gendall and Chief High Court Justice Tony Randerson, continues today with Hugh Rennie QC calling Fairfax group executive editor Paul Thompson to detail circumstances of the articles about the police operation.
Dominion Post editor Tim Pankhurst is expected to explain his editorial policy, and his reasons for publishing the intercept material.
The court has suppressed references to 13 extracts from interceptions and material from an affidavit, with the order to be reviewed at the end of the trial.
