| NZ Arrests Man Likely Linked To Grave Desecration |
| Friday, 13 August 2004 | |
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By JPOST.COM STAFF
The New Zealand Police on Wednesday arrested a 29-year-old man suspected of involvement in the desecration of Jewish cemeteries in Wellington last week. According to a report by The New Zealand Herald on Wednesday, the man was arrested for assaults on Somali youths in Wellington in June. He would face four assault-related charges when he appears in Wanganui District Court tomorrow, the police said in a statement tonight. Detective Senior Sergeant Shane Cotter of Wellington said police were "not commenting on any links between this incident and recent damage to the Jewish cemeteries in Wellington". On Tuesday New Zealand'sTelevision One News reported that police were interested in talking to a National Front group member in relation to both the attacks on the Somalis and the attacks on the Jewish sections of two Wellington cemeteries. Two Jewish cemeteries in the New Zealand capital of Wellington were desecrated in the past three weeks and security has been heightened at the third Jewish cemetery in the region. On Friday, August 6, the Makara cemetery was vandalized and dozens of gravestones were uprooted and smashed. Swastikas were sprayed on walls and scratched into the lawns, in what has been called the worst anti-Semitic assault on a cemetery in New Zealand's history. National Front director Kyle Chapman last night denied the man named by One News as a suspect for the Somali attacks and the cemetery desecration held a senior position in the National Front. "He has no position in the National Front. On the suspicions - I can't comment on that until a proper court of law has sat and he's been found guilty or not guilty." Mr Chapman was not sure whether or not the man was a National Front member. http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1092193817586&p=1006688055060 |