Photo / RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
By Anneke Smith of RNZ
A Linton-based soldier accused of spying is applying for a stay of proceedings on the basis of delay.
The man, who has name suppression, faces more than a dozen charges - including espionage - in a case that is the first of its kind in New Zealand.
A minute issued by the Court Martial this morning revealed the accused would ask the judge to put an end to the case on the basis of delay.
The hearing is set down for Wednesday.
The soldier had initially applied for further disclosure from the NZSIS.
The hearing relating to this disclosure application, held in a closed court meaning neither members of the public nor the media were permitted to attend, was scheduled to be completed this week.
Instead, the soldier’s application to stay the prosecution will be heard on that day with the disclosure hearing to be completed at a later date.
The soldier, a member of far-right groups the Dominion Movement and Action Zealandia, is accused of failing to report finding classified documents.
This was after was allegedly found with a Pams chiller bag containing intelligence training materials, at a ‘restricted’ classification level.
The charge sheets for the case also state that on or about November 20, 2019 he failed to report contact from what he believed was an official of a foreign country to the Defence Security Directorate.
The country at the centre of this case cannot be made public after the Chief Judge of the Court Martial’s Chief Judge Kevin Riordan moved to suppress it, along with the identities of half a dozen expert Crown witnesses.
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