Sroubek’s wife fears for safety

The estranged wife of drug smuggler Karel Sroubek feels vulnerable and afraid for her life, the House has been told.

National Party justice spokesman Mark Mitchell said she gave him a six-page letter that contained permission to speak on her behalf. He said she had been threatened by gangs and was ‘‘genuinely scared’’.

She said she was forced to write the letter of support so her convicted smuggler husband did not get deported from New Zealand. It was this letter that Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway put so much weight on when making his original decision to grant Sroubek residency.

One of the biggest questions that needed to be answered was how immigration officials tracked the woman down, when she was in a police safe house, Mitchell said.

‘‘Yes, she made a submission in Sroubek’s support, but she says this was made under duress. She doesn’t want him to stay and has changed both her phone number and address, because of what she says are threats to her safety.

‘‘The unwelcome visit by Immigration NZ to discuss her statement, a visit she later received an apology for, makes the situation worse.’’

Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters, responding on behalf of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, questioned whether the wife was directly involved in those statements.

‘‘When that matter was put to Mark Davey, who has campaigned on a National Party-associated campaign, and put to the president, Peter Goodfellow, they wouldn’t respond . . . The prime minister is talking about your leak.’’

National leader Simon Bridges said this was tarnishing a victim’s reputation by inferring they were politically motivated.