Kahui 'wall of silence' denied

Published: 7:17AM Saturday May 24, 2008 Source: Newstalk ZB/ONE News

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A confidante of Chris Kahui denies there was ever a whanau wall of silence around the deaths of his twin sons.

Kahui has been acquitted of murdering the three month-old babies Chris and Cru in June 2006.

The Kahuis are now appealing for police to re-investigate the case.

Pastor Tom Ngapera, who Mr Kahui lived with for almost two and a half years, says there was never any collusion, or cover-up.

He claims Mr Kahui and his family were all willingly interviewed by police and have never shied away from talking about what happened.

But Ngapera says somebody should be held accountable.

He says they know someone was responsible, as all the medical evidence in the court case said the babies had been assaulted.

Ngapera now says he is holding out for the day somebody cracks, and tells police what really happened.

The pastor's denial of the Kahui cover-up comes as the Weekend Herald reports that Law Commissioner Sir Geoffrey Palmer has advocated a re-examination of the right to silence in police questioning.

That right to silence is codified in New Zealand's 1990 Bill of Rights, and while that legislation could be changed in Parliament, the right is generally considered to run deeper than ordinary statute alone.

The Law Society has warned that it would be hasty to change the law in response to the outcome of one difficult case.

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