Axe accused bailed on sedition charge

Timothy Selwyn outside the court. He called the charges against him bizarre. Picture / Richard Robinson

The man accused of an axe attack on Helen Clark's electorate office says the charges he is facing are "bizarre".

Timothy Selwyn made his first appearance in the Auckland District Court yesterday charged with conspiracy to commit criminal damage and seditious conspiracy.

The Grey Lynn 30-year-old did not enter a plea and was bailed to reappear next month. Conditions include not going within 50m of the Prime Minister's Mt Albert electorate office.

Selwyn arrived at the court wearing a pin-striped suit and introduced himself to reporters. He described himself as semi-employed, working as editor of Tumeke, a new magazine focusing on political, cultural and current affairs.

Asked if he was a political activist, he said: "I would describe myself as a citizen who cares about the future of New Zealand."

Selwyn said the charges against him were a "gross over-reaction" and called them "unnecessary and bizarre".

Helen Clark's office was attacked on November 18. An axe was embedded in the window, apparently in a protest against the Foreshore and Seabed Bill.

Flyers found on Ponsonby Rd said the attack was a Pakeha protest about Government attempts to steal Maori land through the bill. The broken window expressed the "broken justice" of the legislation.

 

Selwyn hit the headlines four years ago after writing an article for the university magazine Craccum in which he denied that suicide was a selfish act and said people should respect those who want to kill themselves.

He faces a maximum seven years' jail on the criminal damage charge and up to two years on the sedition count.

Gary Gotlieb, president-elect of the Auckland District Law Society, said sedition charges were rare and "a pretty scary piece of law". Such charges had been used during World War I, the Depression and the 1951 waterfront strike.