Right-wing blogger Cameron Slater says he won't be apologising to the grieving mother of a dead man he made comments about online.
His Whale Oil site remains offline after he published an article about Judd Hall, who was killed in a car crash on 24 January, carrying the headline "Feral dies in Greymouth, did the world a "favour".
Whale Oil blogger Cameron Slater. Photo: TVNZ
After the article was posted on Saturday, Mr Slater said he received hundreds of comments on Facebook, including death threats and said he has had to move his family.
He laid a complaint with police on Wednesday, claiming that the dead man's mother, Joe Hall, left eight messages on his voicemail - seven of which he said contain death threats.
Mr Slater, whose blog also publicised Auckland mayor Len Brown's two-year extra-marital affair, told Radio New Zealand's Checkpoint programme he stands by what he wrote and won't apologise to Ms Hall.
"And if I do such a thing and do what other people have said that I should apologise off the back of death threats and threats of raping my daughter, what I'm doing then is caving into bullying."
However, Joe Hall denies making any threats. She told Checkpoint she tried to phone Mr Slater after she read an article on the comments published in the Greymouth Star on Monday.
"I asked whoever answered the phone if I could talk to him. I have made no death threats to anybody. I don't do Facebook - I'm lucky to be able to answer an email."
Ms Hall said Mr Slater should hand any evidence he has to police. She said she may accept an apology from him if it is in person.
Grey District mayor Tony Kokshoorn believes Cameron Slater deserves most of the reaction he is getting. He told Radio New Zealand's Morning Report programme he does not agree with death threats being made, but says Mr Slater's comments were very insensitive.
Listen to Cameron Slater
Listen to Checkpoint interview with Joe Hall
Listen to Tony Kokshoorn
Dotcom 'not involved'
A spokesperson for internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom dismissed a suggestion that the internet entrepreneur might have played a part in the cyber attack.
The blog was the first to publish details of the Auckland mayor Len Brown's two-year extra-marital affair and has written material critical of Mr Dotcom.
Mr Slater earlier said he is not accusing Mr Dotcom of carrying out the attack, but it would have been a very expensive thing to do and he is a wealthy man.
However a spokesperson for Mr Dotcom, Mark Blackham, says any such suggestion is ridiculous and Mr Dotcom has bigger things to worry about.