Rainbow Warrior bombers fight on

Two former French agents convicted over the Rainbow Warrior bombing 20 years ago are continuing their fight to stop Television NZ screening a clip of them pleading guilty.

A lawyer for Alain Mafart and Dominique Prieur faced a preliminary hurdle in the Court of Appeal yesterday when he tried to convince the three judges they had power to hear an appeal from what on one view was a purely administrative decision.

The film segment was from a closed circuit recording made for journalists who could not fit into the courtroom where Mafart and Prieur pleaded guilty to charges of wilful damage and manslaughter.

Their lawyer, Gerard Curry, had told the High Court that even though both wrote books about the bombing, their right to privacy for a poignant moment had not lessened. They now led settled civilian lives.

The High Court gave TVNZ permission to search the court file and copy the footage for a documentary marking 20 years since the bombing that led to the drowning of photographer Fernando Pereira.

The Court of Appeal reserved its decision on the appeal against that result.

The point that may decide the case is whether an appeal can be brought against a decision on a search application, or whether the decision stemmed from a 1987 settlement of an earlier attempt to screen the footage. A judge had made an order that the tape was part of the High Court criminal case and no search could occur without a judge's permission, and that Prieur and Mafart's lawyer had to be notified.

TVNZ lawyer Willy Akel said the judge's decision allowing the tape to be used was a "low-level" administrative one, without appeal rights. If Mafart and Prieur are told they cannot appeal, Mr Curry has asked for an extra period when the film cannot be used, so the Supreme Court can be asked to hear an appeal.

- NZPA