Political candidate files complaint with police over threats

Political candidate files complaint with police over threats

An ACT Party candidate in Auckland has filed a complaint with police after a torrent of online abuse, including racial slurs and threats against him and his family, surfaced on social media.

Malkiat Singh, ACT's candidate for the Papakura electorate, said he had been subjected to sustained cyberbullying since his candidacy was announced earlier this month.

The police complaint comes a week after Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki called for Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims to be "purged" from New Zealand, comments that Ethnic Communities Minister Mark Mitchell later described as the actions of a "scared bully".

His remarks were also condemned by ethnic community organisations, including the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand and the New Zealand Central Sikh Association.

Singh believed the abuse escalated after Tamaki posted about his candidacy on social media.

"Somebody tagged me in that post and that's how I found out about it," Singh said.

"And looking at the way it was presented, it was implying as if I'm an outsider and I've come here to intervene in New Zealand politics," he said.

"That's the impression of many people who were responding to this post, that's how they perceived it."

Tamaki said New Zealand should remain a place where individuals could have robust debate on issues of national importance.

"To be clear, I do not tolerate threats, violence or intimidation against individuals, and any threats made against Mr Singh or his family are completely unacceptable," Tamaki said.

The engineer, licensed immigration adviser and business owner has lived in New Zealand for two decades after moving here to study engineering.

He said what began as criticism of immigration policies quickly turned into a barrage of racist and abusive comments, some of which targeted his family and prompted him to contact police.

Singh said he had invited the Destiny Church leader to have a peaceful conversation in a comment to Tamaki's post on him out of respect.

"He [Tamaki] is a person of faith. He's a religious leader," he said.

"So, I peacefully invited him for a conversation about God, politics, immigration policies, country's vision, and the concept of migrant assimilation and cultures in general."

Singh said Tamaki never responded, but the abuse from some of his followers worsened.

"In the beginning it was all about immigration ... but soon things changed and it turned out to be abusive, racial and vitriolic," he said.

Singh initially spent hours responding to and moderating comments on his social media pages.

"[But] they were not really interested in an engagement or a conversation," he said. "They just wanted to harass and create racially driven posts."

The comments on his social media posts became increasingly hostile, with some threatening acts of violence against Singh, his family and the wider Indian community.

RNZ has viewed some of these comments, but Singh has since hidden them from being displayed publicly.

Tamaki told RNZ he had no intention of meeting Singh.

"If Mr Singh genuinely wishes to engage with someone, he would be better directing that request to Hannah Tamaki, who is also contesting the Papakura electorate. They are likely to meet each other on the campaign trail at some point," he said.

"Mr Singh seems more interested in creating publicity around this than having a genuine discussion about the issues affecting his electorate," he said.

"If he believes he has been threatened, he has done the right thing by reporting it to police, and they should deal with it.

"My focus is on issues of national interest, not individual politicians' campaigns."

The threats against Singh come amid concerns about a rise in anti-Indian sentiment in New Zealand.

In December and January, two religious processions in Tauranga and South Auckland were disrupted by protesters linked to Destiny Church, prompting the Indian government to formally raise concerns with New Zealand authorities.

In April, graffiti inciting violence against the Indian community was discovered outside a school in Papatoetoe.

Similar graffiti was later found in Royal Oak.

A 61-year-old man was arrested by police who pleaded guilty in Manukau District Court to two charges of intentionally damaging a footpath in Papatoetoe.

On Friday, detective inspector Shaun Vickers at Counties Manukau CIB said police had received a complaint in relation to threats made on a social media page against an ACT candidate in Auckland.

The threats spanned the period from 8-24 June, Vickers said, adding that enquiries were in the very early stages.

Singh did not have an issue with the wider concept of freedom of speech.

"I personally strongly value freedom of speech because if we don't have freedom of speech, we will never have true democracy where people can voice their opinions, facts, and where they can talk about things which are not right," Singh said.

"But I also believe that freedom of speech comes with a responsibility, which is a social responsibility. Our leaders should not be shy of or afraid of correcting somebody who is abusing the rights given to them under freedom of speech."