Red Sqwad

O

Omaar

Guest
Former policeman and MP Ross Meurant has put his 1981 Springbok Tour aluminium baton up for auction on TradeMe.

Mr Meurant was second in command of the Red Squad, a police unit set up to deal with anti-tour protests.

The starting bid for the baton is $10,000.

But his listing on the online auction site has sickened an old foe.

John Minto, the face of the anti-tour movement in 1981, told the Herald last night the sale was amoral and bizarre.

"To try and make money out of the situation back in '81 is a bit tacky ... I think most people would find that offensive."

On the website, the Monodok PR 24 baton is described as "the Minto bar" and is pictured on a white sheet with a red rose placed underneath.

The entry says Mr Meurant and several other members of the Red Squad imported the aluminium batons from the United States at their own expense.

................

Mr Meurant, who was second-in-command of the notorious Red Squad set up to control anti-tour protesters, today sold the baton which he imported personally, for $20,000 to a South African collector.

"The Police had a difficult job during the Tour because they were obliged to uphold the rule of law, but Meurant and his Red Squad acted like a pack of vigilantes who took the law into their own hands."

He said Mr Meurant's listing on auction website Trade Me, "Red Squad wielding the baton in a blaze of blood throughout the tour" - confirmed that he still takes pride in his behaviour.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10124219
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10124144

This seems very wrong.
 

owen

Well-known member
when i clicked on this thread i was expecting something on a bow based marxist-leninist cru. i am disappointed.
 
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