Bishop’s trip into custody sealed with a kiss
Brian Tamaki’s bail application has been refused after the Destiny Church leader appeared at Auckland District Court via audio-visual link yesterday.
Tamaki was remanded in custody to Mt Eden Prison until January 27. He did not respond as the judge handed down his decision.
Judge Evangelos Thomas said the only information that could be reported from yesterday’s bail hearing was the outcome.
Tamaki faces five active charges and was in court yesterday for allegedly breaching his bail.
He was dressed in black during the hearing, sitting in a white room.
He remained motionless and expressionless throughout.
There have been allegations that Tamaki breached bail conditions by speaking at a January anti-vaccine rally in Christchurch, which was attended by more than 100 people — more than allowed under the traffic light system.
As part of his bail conditions, Tamaki was not allowed to “organise or attend any protests in breach of any Covid-19 level requirement”.
The 63 year old has previously been charged three times over his attendance at Auckland Domain lockdown protests.
He has pleaded not guilty to all charges, including allegations he violated the conditions of his bail.
Tamaki and his wife Hannah posted a Facebook live video yesterday morning at their home, announcing he was about to be arrested. Brian Tamaki said he was speaking up on behalf of businesses and other individuals who had been hurt or affected by vaccination mandates.
“People think I keep breaching my bail conditions. I’ve always said I’m not guilty,” he said.
“For all of those who say, ‘Book him, send him off to jail’, you don’t understand about why this has happened and I should never have been charged in the first place, thank you.”
At the Mt Eden remand centre he was greeted by about 50 supporters who blocked police to perform a haka.
In a statement released through his lawyers yesterday, Tamaki vowed to defend himself when he returns to court later this month.
“It is not accepted that he should have been remanded in custody and any longer period on remand will be challenged vigorously,” the statement said.
Tamaki believed in the “value of the rule of law” and was disappointed by those who “seek to silence him”.
“It is a sad day for the freedom of all New Zealanders when people cannot gather and be heard in opposition to government policy when they believe it to be wrong and contrary to the good of the people,” the statement said.
Democracy had “taken another hit” and the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act had “lost any impact that those who drafted it dreamt it might have”, the statement said.