Buttocks protest brings $450 fine

Press, 2 August 1983, Page 8

Buttocks protest brings $450 fine

PA Wellington The bared-buttocks antiRoyal protest of the Porirua political activist, Te Ringa Mangu Mihaka, cost him $450 in the District Court at Wellington yesterday. Mihaka, aged 42, had refused to plead to a charge of offensive behaviour, brought after he made what he said was a serious and traditional Maori protest against the visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales on April 20. Last week, and again yesterday during his submissions to Judge Gilbert, he said the charge trivialised the nature of his action. He said he was aware of the “non-custodial nature of the penalty” for the charge, then invited the Judge to “do his darnedest and bring down the maximum penalty.” The Judge declined the

invitation. He said that although he had no doubt the degree of insult intended might well have called for the maximum or near-maxi-mum penalty, he was required to have some regard for Mihaka’s financial circumstances. A small reduction was appropriate, he said. Earlier, Mihaka, who defended himself, said in his closing submissions that his witnesses had substantiated the “profound cultural significance” of his protest.

He said he had volunteered to demonstrate to the Court what he had done and denied that he had spread his buttocks or pulled open his piu piu (flax skirt). “The only thing that looked like violence was the manner in which the police arrested me, leading to the spontaneous intervention by my wife.” The Princess of Wales

would have done the same thing if the Prince had been arrested, Mihaka said. The Judge said he preferred Mihaka’s evidence concerning the actual protest and accepted that he had not parted the piu piu or spread his buttocks. “But that’s not to suggest that the police evidence was made up. Everything happened very quickly.” The police were running toward Mihaka and their evidence was more what they thought had happened. Discrepancies were not unusual in such circumstances. The Judge said there was no doubt that Mihaka’s political beliefs were sincerely held. The fact that a gesture was politically inspired did not stop it being offensive, he said. Mihaka said last evening he would appeal against the decision.