The Empire Strikes Back
June 24th, 2004 at 10:21 pm by David FarrarNZPA has a good story on the statement by Peters that he is suing TVNZ for $7 million.
I did laugh at Bill Ralston’s statement that so far he has only received press releases, not legal papers, despite threats since January – but most of all him pointing out that Peters needs to go back to law school as under the law you can not specify the amount of damages sought in your filing.
Peters is also saying he may sue any other media which has carried the story. Hopefully there will be no need for a blog defence fund!
I could almost feel sorry for Peters in this, as it is entirely possible that Meurant has landed his boss in a pile of crap, without Peters knowing. However as Peters hold the all time record for making baseless defamatory accusations under parliamentary privilege, my sympathy is very limited.
A story on the TVNZ website refers to phone records showing a quick succession of phone calls from Meurant to Simunovich and Peters, which may not help the claim that Peters did not know Meurant was working for both him and Simunovich.
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June 25th, 2004 at 4:39 pm
Here’s the only advice I remember from my short, inglorious career as a hack: Don’t crap your pants until you see the writ.
But isn’t it delightful that, like all playground bullies, Winston squeals like a stuck pig when he gets a bash instead of handing it out? Might be interesting for a blogger with a strong stomach (and a loooot of time) to compare Winston’s statements in the chamber with, well, objective reality.
Vote:June 25th, 2004 at 5:40 pm
Such a comparison has occured to me also!
Even if a writ is filed, I really wonder if it would ever see court. Do you really want to risk what Meurant and others might say under corss examination?
One might file and then after the election withdraw it.
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