The Green Party has written to the Independent Police Complaints Authority (IPCA) formally asking it to investigate the decisions made by the police which led to the unlawful search of journalist Nicky Hager’s home.
A High Court judge last week found that the police warrant and search on Mr Hager’s home, which followed the publication of his book Dirty Politics, were unlawful.
“There are many unanswered questions from the Dirty Politics scandal, and why the police made the decision to search Mr Hager’s home is one them,” said Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei.
“Mr Hager’s house was searched by police as a direct result of his journalistic work uncovering the dirty politics scheme run out of the Prime Minister’s office.
“The search on Mr Hager’s house has been ruled unlawful, and we’ve asked the IPCA to investigate why the decision was made to undertake the search in the first place by senior-ranked police officials.
“There are fundamental issues of democracy at stake here, particularly around the rights of the media to operate free from political interference or control.
“Journalists have a role holding the Government to account and have the right to protect their sources, regardless of whether the Government of the day likes what’s being written about them or not.
“Nicky Hager’s home was unlawfully searched as a result of his journalism and there are now serious questions needing to be answered both about the treatment of Mr Hager, and about the dirty tricks campaign ran out of the Prime Minister’s office.
"The public deserve to know about both," said Mrs Turei.
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