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Maori activist Tame Iti was among five people bidding for release on bail this afternoon following Solicitor-General David Collins' decision yesterday not to allow police to bring terrorism charges against any of the "Urewera 16".
One man - 38-year-old Whiri Kemara - has already been released on bail this morning.
Five others were having hearings at the Auckland High Court this afternoon. They are Iti, Valerie Morse, Emily Bailey, Omar Hamed and a Swiss national who has name suppression.
Police had asked for permission to bring such charges against 12 of them. The 16 still face firearms charges.
Kemara, who faces eight charges of possessing firearms and molotov cocktails, was bailed by a judge at Auckland District Court under strict conditions.
These include residing at a particular address, not going to Ruatoki and not associating with co-defendants.
Annette Sykes, lawyer for Maori activist Tame Iti, who is among the 16, separately said yesterday's decision not to proceed with terror charges was a cue to push for an urgent bail application for her client.
But she said indications were that police would continue to fight against bail for Iti.
"While there now seems to be no unlawful purpose of the kind specified by the (Terrorism Suppression Act), the police are still not at this stage willing to consider whether or not people innocent of those charges should now be given bail,' she said.
New Zealand First leader and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters is calling on MPs to apologise to police for drafting "inadequate" anti-terrorism legislation.
Mr Peters was in Parliament in 2002 when the Terrorism Suppression Act was passed and said he has already apologised to police.
"It's not the police who are responsible, it's all of us. I was in Parliament at the time. I don't know whether I was there on the night or not but my party voted for it and so we are in-part responsible," Mr Peters said.
The legislation is too complicated to deal with terrorism, he said.
"They've made the law so complicated that before you can finger anybody, you have to know every final detail of an act that has already been committed. Well, it's too late then," Mr Peters said.
Mr Peters said the arrested people waive their rights to have the police evidence against them suppressed so the whole case becomes public knowledge and people can judge for themselves.
Mr Collins yesterday refused to allow police to bring terrorism charges against 12 people arrested in police raids last month.
He said the legislation was "incoherent" and recommended the legislation should be reviewed by the Law Commission yesterday.
His decision prompted immediate calls for police to pay a price for the controversial raids.
The Maori Party and other critics of the terror raids following the initial blockade at Ruatoki on October 15 called for Police Commissioner Howard Broad to resign, claiming he had staked his reputation on successfully using the act, and had used the terrorism overtone to justify the much criticised police raids.
Mr Broad last night said he regretted any stress to innocent bystanders, but he stood by his actions - and expected the public to back him.
Mr Collins defended the police when outlining the reasons for the decision, saying they had acted appropriately by using the new law and had no other option.
But Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia said Mr Broad's invocation of terror laws had branded Tuhoe as terrorists, and terrified the rest of the country.
She said the party would call for him to resign, apologise to Tuhoe and compensate those raided for property damage and stress.
"There were other pieces of legislation which could have been used to address these issues," she said.
"The mere fact [Mr Broad] chose the Terrorism Suppression Act means he should resign.
"He knew it was a high threshold, and would terrify other people in the country.
"I definitely think he has scared the nation because he has planted the notion of terrorism in this land of ours, which we believe is a very safe land."
Dr Collins said his decision should not be taken as a criticism of the police.
"I wish to stress that the police have successfully brought to an end what were very disturbing activities. That the police did so without a single shot being fired, injury or loss of life is a tremendous reflection on the professionalism and integrity of the New Zealand Police."
Government ministers have supported Mr Broad, emphasising Dr Collins' statements and saying the decision was not a vindication of those arrested, who still faced serious arms charges.
Mr Broad also has the support of Police Minister Annette King, who said she had "great confidence in the integrity of the Police Commissioner and his staff".
The Commissioner said his actions were "prudent and in the public interest" and that had been backed up by the Solicitor-General, despite him deciding there was not enough evidence to prosecute under terrorism laws.
"Do I have to get it right in law on everything that we do in the police? No, that is clearly not the case," Mr Broad said.
"I stand by what we did."
Mr Broad said he regretted that some innocent people had been caught up in the raids and admitted he had some bridge-building to do.
"But in terms of this being a serious risk I stand exactly behind what I did."
Another raid protester, John Minto, who led a delegation to Parliament calling for the charges to be dropped, also said Mr Broad should resign.
"He branded these people as terrorists from day one and it has put great trauma on to them and their families."
Maori lawyer Moana Jackson said people in the Ruatoki valley were also considering taking civil action against the police following an investigation by Peter Williams, QC, into whether police had abused civil rights.
Mr Jackson said a decision was expected to be made soon.
He said he also expected police to pay for any damage done during the searches and said the Terrorism Suppression Act should be repealed and replaced with a new law which better protected domestic situations.
- additional reporting NZPA
