KEY POINTS:
The decision to lay new charges against five of the Urewera activists has been described as "ludicrous" by supporters of the defendants.
Global Peace and Justice spokesman John Minto said authorities had "failed to brand" the activists as terrorists so the charges were nothing more than an attempt to "brand them as criminals".
Tame Iti, Emily Bailey, Urs Signer, Tuhoi Lambert and Whiri Kemara are all expected to be charged within the next few weeks with participating in a criminal gang.
The charge, which carries a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment, will be added to firearm charges the individuals are already facing.
Those charges were laid more than a year ago against 17 people who were alleged to have participated in weapons-training camps around the country.
Police had originally wanted to charge the group under the Terrorism Suppression Act but that was not allowed by the Solicitor-General, who said the legislation was flawed.
Yesterday, politicians were reluctant to comment on the new charges. Prime Minister Helen Clark and National leader John Key had no comment to make, while Police Minister Annette King said the first she knew about it was when she read the story in the Herald yesterday morning.
Iti said he had been told not to talk to the media about the latest charges and referred all queries to his lawyer, Annette Sykes. Ms Sykes did not return the Weekend Herald's calls.
"Why lay these charges more than a year after the arrests?" asked Mr Minto. "It seems the police will leave no stone unturned in trying to make the case look more serious than it is and in the process to salvage some credibility from the hopeless mess they have got themselves into."
