Police confirm Kiwis under investigation for breach of North Korean sanctions

Police have confirmed that two men whose homes were raided in Auckland on Monday are under investigation for alleged breaches of UN sanctions related to North Korea.

The men’s lawyer has lashed out at the police, calling the police “complete idiots” who misinterpreted the law.

Search warrants were executed Monday at the homes of Peter Wilson, a humanitarian worker, and a second person, a Presbyterian minister.

The two men are longtime members of the NZ-DPRK partnership, a New Zealand-North Korean friendship group that has donated money to charitable causes in North Korea, and advocates for New Zealand to reopen trade relations with the country.

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According to the group’s lawyer, the group sent three donations totaling $ 5,673 NZD to purchase personal protective equipment (PPE) for Covid-19 quarantine personnel at the North Korean Red Cross.

The money was transferred to a third party in Jakarta, Indonesia, where it was exchanged for cash and delivered to the North Korean embassy.

Four officers searched Wilson’s home and seized laptops, phones and five file boxes. Two lead officers in the case flew in from Wellington specifically for the raid, the group’s attorney said.

Wilson was detained for about two hours while officers searched his home.

According to the search warrant, the police suspected that the men violated the United Nations (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) Sanctions Regulations 2017.

The sanctions prohibit the trade in arms, luxury goods and restricted valuables with North Korea. An offense carries a maximum penalty of 12 months in prison or a fine of $ 10,000.

Former Corrections Minister Matt Robson acts as the group’s attorney. He vigorously refuted the police claim, saying that the UN sanctions did not apply to humanitarian work.

He said the police had acted like “complete idiots” and claims that the investigation was routine were “complete nonsense.”

He said the group had a clear history of donating to humanitarian work in the country, and the amounts were clearly too modest to buy or manufacture weapons of mass destruction.

He had written to Police Minister Stuart Nash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters, and SIS Minister Andrew Little, demanding answers as to which agency instigated the investigation.

Wilson said he had visited North Korea eight times through humanitarian and agricultural work. The Presbyterian minister has also visited the country to meet with church groups.

Wilson said he was not surprised by the police raid, but that his wife had been nervous.

“Frankly, it has all been so strange that I cannot take it seriously. It was like a bad joke, “he said.

What is the NZ-DPRK Society?

The NZ-DPRK Society is a small group with a history of almost 50 years. The group has close ties to the Presbyterian Church, with various ministers involved in fundraising and humanitarian missions.

The group has been accused of being apologists for the North Korean regime. The group is strongly anti-US stance, believing that unnecessarily harsh US-led sanctions have driven the North Korean population into poverty.

The society has a long history of humanitarian donations, including flood relief, food supplies, and support for small businesses.

On two occasions, their donations have involved money from the New Zealand government, revealed a request from the Official Information Act.

There was a donation of approximately $ 1,500 in 2013 to purchase fertilizer and $ 16,500 in 2015 to purchase six 10-horsepower two-wheel tractor-trailer units for New Zealand Friendship Farm, a cooperative farm about 50 km from Pyongyang.

The fund officially ended in 2016, and since then there has been no official diplomatic or humanitarian contact between the governments of New Zealand and North Korea.