Graham Philip: First person convicted of sabotage in New Zealand
The man subject to New Zealand’s first-ever sabotage convictions - a historic law originally intended to prosecute spies - has been sentenced to three years and one month in prison.
Graham Philip, a 62-year-old IT professional and Covid conspiracy theorist was charged with seven counts of wilful damage last December. The charges were upgraded to seven of sabotage earlier this year.
The man was motivated by one purpose; causing as much disruption as he could in an effort to draw attention to his cause.
That cause was a catalogue of fanatical conspiracies surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic and the roll-out of vaccines.
He is a deeply worried man, convinced the lives of New Zealanders were at risk from “Government tyranny” and an “experimental vaccine” he viewed as a tool of genocide.
He is a devout Christian with the court hearing he subscribes to many fundamentalist views.
Graham Philip’s case whipped up hysteria among online conspiracy circles, fuelled by accusations that he was a “political prisoner”, held without charge or trial.
After his December 8, 2021 arrest was revealed among these circles, a campaign began to get Philip released.
Comments (2)
Там речь идёт о каком-то реальном ущербе или только о словах?
The first person convicted of sabotage in New Zealand has been sentenced to three years and one month in prison.
Sixty-two-year-old Graham Philip appeared in the High Court in Hamilton today (30.11).
Philip pleaded guilty to seven charges over damage done to Transpower infrastructure in November 2021 as a protest over Covid-19 mandates.
He had also pleaded guilty to one charge of entering agricultural land with intent to commit an imprisonable offence.
There was one act of sabotage that caused a fire, and the total cost of repairs was likely to exceed $1.25 million.
Reparation was not called for as the court accepted Philip, who had no money or resources, had no way of paying it.
The Judge allowed a sentencing discount of 20 percent for his guilty pleas and 10 percent for good character.
He had no previous convictions.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/479858/graham-philip-receives-three-year-jail-term-for-acts-of-sabotage