12 Sep 2011

Tuhoe says police won't apologise for invading Ruatoki

7:11 pm on 12 September 2011

Tuhoe leader Tamati Kruger is convinced Ruatoki people caught up in the 2007 police raids and not charged will never receive a sincere apology from the government.

On Monday, 13 of the 17 people who were arrested in the course of nationwide police raids have had their charges formally withdrawn by the High Court in Auckland.

The remaining four face firearms charges and charges relating to being part of an organised criminal group.

They are expected to go on trial in February in 2012.

Tamati Kruger suspects once the final four are dealt with - the government will say sorry to the community.

However, he says it's unlikely it will apologise for the use of the Terrorism Suppression Act to invade and suspend the rights of people in Ruatoki.

In the past, the police acknowledged some of their actions during the raids impacted on a number of innocent people, but they had good reason to do so then.