Sabotage

So, the police are talking about charging the Waihopai trespassers with sabotage. That will be fun. Such a charge would rest on the implicit claim that the Waihopai spy base was essential to the "safety, security, or defence of New Zealand" - a claim which can then be put under the spotlight and challenged by the defence. This would not just allow the accused to use the court to publicise their beliefs (since they would be both highly relevant to intent and could be used to undermine the government's claim); it would also allow them to probe to some extent (and with the backing of the court) what goes on at Waihopai. And that I suspect is the last thing the paranoid security freaks in our defence establishment will want.