The court martial for the first person charged with espionage in New Zealand’s history begins today.
The Linton-based soldier was taken into military custody more than five years ago and has remained on open arrest at home since.
In 2020, 17 charges were laid against the soldier including four counts of espionage and possessing objectionable material.
Espionage is communicating information or delivering an object to a country or organisation with the intention to undermine New Zealand’s interests. It carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in a military prison.
The court said the case was “of national significance” when closed-door hearings recommenced earlier this year.
At a 2021 hearing, the judge issued several suppressions on case details, including the name of the soldier and the country the accused allegedly tried to share information with.
Pre-trial hearings were delayed from March 2022 because the court martial’s transcript and recording processes did not meet the country’s security requirements for classified information.
It took nearly a year for specialised recording devices from overseas to be secured and security procedures to be put in place for the hearing on the disclosure application.
In 2023, there was also an unsuccessful bid by the accused to have the charges dropped.
1News has previously reported that the accused was allegedly a member of the far-right Dominion Movement and Action Zealandia groups between 2017 and 2019.
A court martial is a military court that tries members of the armed forces for violations of military law.
It is in many ways similar to jury trials in civilian courts, and a decision on guilt or innocence is made by a judge and panel of military members.
