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Maori Party MP Te Ururoa Flavell says "police and their political masters" appear to be waging a campaign against the people of Ruatoki.
Three more men faced firearms charges in Tauranga and Whakatane courts yesterday in a sequel to last year's so-called anti-terror raids. One of them was from Ruatoki.
There was a public outcry in October following the so-called anti-terrorism raids at Ruatoki in the Eastern Bay of Plenty, centre of the Ureweras-based Tuhoe tribe.
Similar raids were carried out in Whakatane, Palmerston North, Auckland and Wellington.
Mr Flavell, MP for Waiariki, which takes in the Ureweras, today said it appeared police were waging a long-term campaign of surveillance and harassment against people in Ruatoki.
People were upset by the latest round of arrests, particularly that police did not consult iwi liaison officers.
He said there was suspicion the arrests were a police tactic to stir public opinion against the 16 people arrested and charged with firearms offences last October.
"We see the arrests at this time as a strategy by the police to stir up public opinion against those facing charges without breaching sub judice rules."
One of the three arrested yesterday, a 24-year-old Ruatoki man appeared in Whakatane District Court facing nine charges relating to the police raids in October last year.
He was remanded for a depositions hearing in Auckland District Court on March 5 and granted name suppression and bail.
Together with others, he was charged with eight counts of unlawful possession of firearms, including a military-style semi automatic rifle, double barrel sawn off shotgun, and a Ruger rifle with stainless steel barrel and scope.
He was also charged with the unlawful possession of Molotov cocktails.
Meanwhile two men who appeared in Tauranga District Court today on firearms charges linked to the police raids on "terror" suspects last October have been bailed for a week.
Raunatiri Hunt, a 44-year-old security guard, and Tekaumarua Wharepouri, 46, a nurse, both from Maketu, 30km southeast of Tauranga, each faced seven counts of unlawfully possessing a range of guns.
They did not enter pleas before Judge Louis Bidois, who gave them until February 26 to arrange legal representation.
- NZPA
