Emotional protest over CTV decision in Christchurch

Sunday, 10 December 2017

Family and friends of Canterbury Television (CTV) building collapse victims attach banners to the perimeter of the former building site.

Family and friends of Canterbury Television (CTV) building collapse victims say they owe it to their lost loved ones to keep asking for justice and accountability over the tragedy.

On Sunday, about 150 protesters held placards and hugged and cried in Latimer Square, near the CTV site, as part of a peaceful demonstration against a police decision not to press charges over the collapse.

Greater Christchurch Regeneration minister Megan Woods, who attended the protest, confirmed Justice Minister Andrew Little would meet with the victims' families next Sunday. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern planned to meet them early in the new year, Woods said.

About 150 people gathered at Latimer Square in Christchurch on Sunday afternoon to protest against a police decision not to press charges over the CTV building collapse.

The six-storey CTV building collapsed during the February 2011 earthquake, killing 115 people.

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Maan Alkaisi, centre, was one of the protest organisers. He lost his wife in the collapse.

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Police announced last month that, after a three-year and $1.18 million investigation, they would not pursue criminal charges against engineer David Harding or his boss Alan Reay over design deficiencies in the Madras St building that contributed to its collapse.

Protest organiser Maan Alkaisi, who lost his wife in the building collapse, is among those who want justice and accountability.

'The fact that after seven years I'm standing here, asking for justice, it tells it all,' he told the crowd.

'We are asking for a fair trial with a jury to reach a just decision.

'This we owe to the 115 people who died.'

Brendan Baker, who lost his fiancee in the collapse, said the decision not to press charges was 'not good enough'.

'It's not right,' he said through tears.

He was hopeful Little and Ardern would listen to the families' pleas for justice.

Nilgun Kulpe, who survived the collapse, said she was deeply moved by a protest placard which read: '115 hearts stopped beating'.

'This really gets to me because when we came out of the building it was eerily quiet. The way the building collapsed meant those killed had no chance.

'That's what enrages me.'

The decision not to press charges came after advice from Crown Law, signed by Deputy Solicitor-General Brendan Horsley, that there was not enough evidence. Prior to that, police favoured prosecution.

Alkaisi and some other families were seeking legal advice to potentially take the matter further.

David Beaumont, who lost his son Matthew Lyle Beaumont in the collapse, previously said he was satisfied with the decision not to prosecute because there was 'a whole series of neglectful people all the way through', not just a design issue.