SPCS

SOCIETY FOR PROMOTION OF COMMUNITY STANDARDS INC.

Two plead guilty over graphic Islamic videos

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Two Auckland men have now pleaded guilty to what is believed to be New Zealand’s first charges for watching radical Islamic videos of beheading and violence.

Niroshan Nawarajan, 27, and Imran Patel, 26, have been in custody since they were arrested – Patel in November last year and Nawarajan in January.

Nawarajan pleaded guilty in the Auckland District Court yesterday for possessing objectionable material that was said to have involved graphic violent images. Prosecorors described the images as showing “extreme cruelty and violence”.

Police found Nawarajan in possession of a laptop containing offensive video files entitled “Flames of War” and “Massacre of the Shias,” according to court documents. Nawarajan also pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and resisting arrest.

Patel pleaded guilty to charges of breaching the Films, Videos and Publications Classifications Act [see Appendix below. Note 1] by making objectionable publications, two charges of distributing that material, and one charge of possession of objectionable material. All involve radicalised Islamic material.

According to court documents, Patel is alleged to have created a DVD with 31 clips.

The compilation allegedly included 13 featuring people being beheaded, shot, blown up, set on fire and having limbs amputated as well as graphic war footage.

Both will be sentenced in June.

Patel was previously arrested in 2014 for allegedly threatening members of the Avondale mosque in a dispute between two Islamic factions battling for control of the mosque.

Patel and the imam he supported, Abu Abdulla, were barred from entering the mosque by the New Zealand Muslim Association which ran the mosque.

One of those involved in the disputes was named in a United States Embassy warning in 2005 as a person being monitored by the police for potential terrorist allegiances.

Source: Story by Shane Cowlishaw and Kelly Dennett. The Dominion Post, Saturday, May 7, 2016, p. A12.

Appendix:

Note 1

The Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993

Section 3. Meaning of objectionable

(2) A publication shall be deemed to be objectionable for the purposes of this Act if the publication promotes or supports, or tends to promote or support,

(a) the exploitation of children, or young persons, or both, for sexual purposes; or

(b) the use of violence or coercion to compel any person to participate in, or submit to, sexual conduct, or

(c) sexual conduct with or upon the body of a dead person, or

(d) the use of urine or excrement in association with degrading or dehumanising conduct or sexual conduct; or

(e) bestiality; or

(f) acts of torture or the infliction of extreme violence or extreme cruelty.

Principal Youth Court Judge Andrew Becroft appointed new Children’s Commissioner

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Principal Youth Court Judge Andrew Becroft has been appointed the country’s next Children’s Commissioner with a brief to monitor massive changes to Child, Youth and Family.

He will replace paediatrician Dr Russell Wills, whose five-year term ends in July.

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley said Judge Becroft would be seconded from his duties as a judge for an unusually short two-year term as Children’s Commissioner.

"His input will be invaluable as we transform our care and protection system through the radical changes I recently announced, to focus on the short and long-term well-being of our children through to adulthood," she said.

"Judge Becroft’s experience of dealing with troubled and at-risk young people will be vital in the development of a youth justice service aimed at preventing offending and reoffending as part of the major overhaul.

Full story -  http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11632760

May Wang guilty of fraud over failed Crafar farms acquisition

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May Wang, the businesswoman at the centre of a failed bid to buy the Crafar farms, has been found guilty of fraud charges in Hong Kong.

The failed bidders of Crafar farms have been found guilty of fraud in Hong Kong.

Hao May, formerly known as May Wang, 53, and two former senior executives of a listed company behind the bid, were found guilty of fraud over the acquisition of the 22 North Island dairy farms.

About 16 of the farms were eventually bought in 2012 by China’s Shanghai Pengxin for a reported $200 million.

On Friday a jury at Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) convicted the trio of conspiracy to defraud over the planned purchase and laundering more than over HK$85 million.

An ICAC statement said Wang, 53, Keen Chen, 48, and Wenjye Yee, 44, would be sentenced in May and it appreciated the assistance provided by the New Zealand Serious Fraud Office in the case.

The trio are not facing charges in New Zealand.

They were found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to defraud, while Chen alone was convicted of one count of dealing with property known or reasonably believed to represent proceeds of an indictable offence.

See Full Story by Collette Devlin published 30 April 2016

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/79477642/may-wang-guilty-of-fraud-over-failed-crafar-farms-acquisition

 

Wicked Campers slogan outrage continues, Mr Wicked nowhere to be seen

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Thousands of Kiwis are calling for a ban on Wicked Campers offensive slogans, but the man behind the vans is nowhere to be found.

The company behind the offensive and borderline misogynistic slogans driving around some of the most beautiful parts of New Zealand is nothing if not defiant.

John William Webb refuses to explain – let alone, apologise for – the vans that have motorists, campsites, guide books, councils and the Government up in arms. He has spoken up in defence of his company in the past but this time he has avoided media, deciding to keep quiet.

Webb's son Liam Webb has spoken on behalf of Wicked Campers before, as "Leanne Webb".

LEANNE (Stuff News photo) – Webb’s son Liam Webb has spoken on behalf of Wicked Campers before, as “LEANNE Webb”.

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As well as The Trustee of the Juicy Love Trust, Webb has a string of Wicked-related companies listed on the New Zealand Companies Office site. [Read more…]

The Society’s Web blog

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  • The Society’s Web blog (www.spcs.org.nz) aims to stimulate rational reflection on, and reasoned appraisal of, a wide range of issues affecting families and society. Since human opinion is always corrigible and meaningful assertions imply conditions under which they may be falsified, the web blog opinion piece articles are written in the belief that truth is ultimately independent of opinion. The opinions and views expressed in such web log articles do not necessarily wholly reflect the Society’s stance. They are simply deemed to be worth publishing for readers to consider, evaluate, respond to, etc. A careful effort is made to ensure that no article is published that promotes or defends any viewpoint that is contrary to, or might undermine or negate, our Society’s objectives.

          The objects for which the Society is established are: [Read more…]