The Urewera 18's appeal against the decision to deny them a jury trial goes before the Court of Appeal in Wellington tomorrow. Its an important appeal; what's at stake here is the credibility of the trial, and by extension of our entire justice system. Without a jury in this case, without the vital bullshit detector of 12 random citizens, we simply can't have confidence in the result. And that's a Bad Thing no matter what you think of the merits of the case.
October 15th Solidarity Wellington will be holding a protest outside the court from 8am. If you care about justice in this country, I suggest you go to it. You don't have to like the defendants, or approve of what they're accused of doing, or even think they're innocent; a credible trial process and a credible justice system is more important than any of that.
