Pressure mounts for Berryman justice

The pressure going on politicians over the Berryman case is slowly bringing results.

Winston Peters tried to table the Butcher Report that is now all over the internet. Yesterday former Defence Minister Max Bradford confirmed publicly that Army suppression of the Butcher Report is possibly "criminal." Michael Laws has spent the morning on Radio Live raising the case, and now, National's Rural Affairs spokesman is finally speaking out, seven years after he first raised the issue and then dropped it, saying the Berrymans deserve justice. At least he's speaking out now, and seeking 'cross-party' support for his stand.

The silence of Rodney Hide on this issue is now becoming deafening.

[UPDATE: Still nothing from Rodney Hide, but Stephen Franks has entered the fray with a very nuanced position, talking about why policians are staying silent, and what "a select committee inquiry" should do. He's not exactly calling for an inquiry though, and one wonders if it is Franks's advice that Rodney is following in remaining silent on an issue in which even Michael Laws has had a say.

Anyway, Franks suggests "The select committee will have to open up the nanny state concept of law. For 20 years the legal industry has been bent on making criminals out of people who mean no harm....The committee’s terms of reference will have to be wide enough to go past the first villains.” So there you go.]