‘Carson case’ will not be reopened

Press, 4 March 1982, Page 2

‘Carson case’ will not be reopened

PA Wellington The Commissioner of Security Appeals, Sir Thaddeus McCarthy, has decided not to reopen the Don Carson case, said the Prime Minister’s press office yesterday. Mr Carson, who was cleared by Sir Thaddeus of Security Intelligence Service allegations that he was believed to have obtained an irritant chemical for use in Springbok tour demonstrations last year, has asked the commissioner to investigate his recourse for getting an apology and legal costs. A spokesman in Mr Muldoon’s office said Sir Thaddeus had written to the Prime Minister last week saying that he had decided not to reopen the case, or to press for an apology or costs.

As far as Mr Muldoon was concerned, that was where the matter ended, the spokesman said.

However, Mr Carson said yesterday this information did not tally with what he understood. He said he had not seen the letter Sir Thaddeus had sent to the Prime Minister, but he urged that it be released.

Mr Carson said Sir Thaddeus had told Mr Carson’s solicitor that he was “sympathetic” to the request for an apology and costs. Sir Thaddeus, who is be-lieved-to be on holiday near Auckland, ..could not be reached yesterday. Mr Carson said he was surprised that Mr Muldoon had not released the letter. ' “He released the original S.I.S. report, he released Sir Thaddeus’s findings, so why doesn’t he release this one?” he said. Mr Carson, a rural broadcaster how based in Wellington, was among those named by Mr Muldoon last August in an S.I.S. report listing alleged “radicals” or “members of subversive groups” said to be active in the antitour movement. Mr Carson was named as being “believed to have obtained the irritant chloropicrin for use in protest activities.” He denied this and appealed to the Commissioner of Security Appeals, who in a decision released by Mr Mul-

doon last month found that the S.I.S. charge was unjustified and not supported by fact. Mr Carson said yesterday that he would explore further legal avenues and would attempt to have Sir Thaddeus’s latest communication to Mr Muldoon released publicly. In his original report' on the issue, Sir Thaddeus made no recommendation on the question of an apology or costs, or on any aspect of his findings in favour of Mr Carson. He said, however, that he considered the publication of the S.I.S. report, including Mr Carson’s name, was most likely to damage in some way Mr Carson’s career. Mr Muldoon later made it clear he would not apologise and said he saw no moral reason for the Government to meet Mr Carson’s costs in clearing his name. Sir Thaddeus had made no recommendation on his findings “and that’s where the matter rests,” he said. Mr Muldoon said he felt Sir Thaddeus had made the right decision.