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A woman recently jailed for escaping from a managed isolation facility plans to speak at a “rally for freedom” in Auckland alongside Advance NZ party leaders Billy Te Kahika and Jami-Lee Ross.
People gather in Auckland’s Aotea Square to protest Covid-19 Level 3 alert conditions. Source: 1 NEWS
The demonstration in Auckland’s Aotea Square on Saturday “will call for a halt to the failed strategy of national and labor lockdown,” according to Te Kahika.
The 37-year-old woman who was to speak at the rally led her children to escape from an isolation facility in Hamilton to attend their father’s tangi on July 24.
She was sentenced to 14 days in jail on August 27 for the rape.
“We cry for LK (a pseudonym for the woman) and her whānau, as last month they made her an example,” Te Kahika says in a statement.
“She is a New Zealander who has suffered a considerable loss due to the Government’s responses to Covid-19.
“That is why we are holding this National Rally for Freedom; To show the nation that it’s time to stand up and be counted.
“This mother was desperate to help her children see their father one last time before he was buried.
“Even though she and her children tested negative, they treated her horribly and sent her to prison for two weeks.”
Ross, who joined the Advance Party after being ousted from National last year, recently sparked another controversy after refusing to pull down a political ad on vaccines despite concerns that it is deliberately misleading.
Auckland is still at alert level 2.5, which means social gatherings of more than 10 people are not allowed.
The maximum penalty for failing to comply with orders under the 2020 Covid-19 Public Health Response Act is six months in prison or a fine of $ 4000.
