Government chides officials for Sooden TV role

Harmeet Sooden

Foreign Affairs officials were rebuked yesterday for approaching two television networks on behalf of freed hostage Harmeet Sooden's family.

Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen, speaking on behalf of the Prime Minister, told Parliament he believed the officials made an "error of judgment" when they told TV3 and TVNZ of a request from Mr Sooden's family for financial assistance for travel after the Auckland student was freed from captivity in Baghdad.

But Dr Cullen said the ministry officials had advised the family against making such a request.

"I think it is very important to be quite clear that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade was not involved in seeking an exclusive relationship with Television New Zealand," he said.

The ministry simply passed on the family's request for financial assistance for travel to both Television New Zealand and TV3.

TVNZ paid about $14,000 for tickets and accommodation for Mr Sooden's father, Dalip, and his brother-in-law, Mark Brewer to fly with a TVNZ reporter and crew to Dubai.

In return, TVNZ was to get preferential access to the family, but there was no deal for access to Harmeet Sooden himself.

Mr Sooden has said he will hold a news conference, open to all media, on Friday.

In Parliament yesterday, National deputy leader Gerry Brownlee asked Dr Cullen whether he thought TVNZ had got good value for the deal "as it appears to have paid $10,000 per second of air time and TV3 ran the same footage for nothing".

Dr Cullen replied: "If this were a value-for-money exercise it would fail to meet the criteria the Government might lay down in those respects."