Author Nicky Hager has confirmed the police raided his home last week in a bid to uncover the identity of the person who provided information used in his book Dirty Politics.
Author Nicky Hager. Photo: RNZ / Diego Opatowski
A Wellington police spokesperson said the raid last Thursday was part of investigations into the alleged hacking of emails belonging to Whaleoil blogger Cameron Slater.
The emails formed the basis of Dirty Politics, which Mr Hager released early in the election campaign.
Mr Hager said five police spent 10 hours searching his home and removing property, including papers and electronic equipment, including computers, drives, phones, CDs, an IPOD and a camera. However, he was confident the officers took nothing which would help their investigation.
Mr Hager told Checkpoint he was in Auckland at the time of the raid but phoned home and spoke to the police.
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"I spoke right away to the detective who was leading it and explained to him that there was nothing in the house that would help with an investigation, that of course I had taken precautions to protect my source," he said.
"... the real concern was that the house was full of other projects, other confidential things which weren't covered by their warrant, and that they were stomping on ground where they really shouldn't be."
What was taken was stored in bags, and Mr Hager was consulting his lawyer over what happened to it.
"At the moment, it's just sealed in bags and I imagine that it's going to be a big legal fight over it yet.
"My lawyers have been talking to me but a lot of water's got to go under that bridge while we work out what to do with it."
The police had crossed a line by searching the home of someone who had written a book, and who the police had admitted had done nothing wrong, Mr Hager said.
He regarded the search as dangerous for journalism, as people would not help the media if police behaved in such a way, he said.