Independent MP Hone Harawira says it's a national disgrace that police used a naval vessel to arrest the captain of a fishing boat, who was blocking an oil exploration ship.
Elvis Teddy was detained on Saturday, by police on board naval ship the Hawea after he deployed fishing line in the path of a Petrobras seismic survey vessel off Bay of Plenty.
Mr Teddy is the skipper of a Te Whanau a Apanui fishing boat, and has been charged with operating a vessel in an unsafe manner under the Maritime Transport Act.
Mr Harawira says with Anzac Day on Monday, the police's use of a naval vessel to detain Mr Teddy is an insult to Te Whanau a Apanui soldiers who gave their lives fighting for the country.
He says no citizen should ever be threatened by their own military.
