Video footage of chaotic scenes at an Auckland housing protest in which Mana Party leader Hone Harawira was arrested last year has been played to a court.
Harawira was in Auckland District Court today defending a charge of failing to comply with a police instruction, an offence punishable by a $10,000 fine.
He was arrested last October when he joined protesters - fighting the removal of state houses in the east Auckland suburb of Glen Innes - who allegedly occupied a property being removed in preparation for redevelopment.
Harawira allegedly locked himself in his car and turned his music up loud, blocking a Housing New Zealand-contracted truck and trailer unit from accessing the property.
Footage of the incident shot by a forensic police photographer was played to the court this afternoon.