Three protesters, including a Northland farmer, who sabotaged a radar dome at the Waihopai spy base could have to pay $1.2 million in damages after their appeal against liability was dismissed.
The Crown had sought to recover damages from Dominican friar Peter Murnane, teacher Adrian Leason and farmer Sam Land after they were convicted over the attack on the GCSB spy base near Blenheim in April 2008.
The men cut through alarmed electric fences and slashed one of the two inflatable domes that cover the satellite dishes, causing the dome to deflate.
A jury acquitted the men of burglary and wilful damage, but the High Court ruled the men were still liable for $1,229,289 in damages.
The trio appealed against that decision in the Court of Appeal in May, arguing they were not liable for damages because the GCSB's property was being used for illegal espionage which was not in New Zealand's national interests.