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committed murder. (It is argued that the Crown realised this, and that this is why the separate murder charge was dropped.) According to some theories, Pere was executed not because he was deemed to have deserved it, but because the government "needed someone to hang" to satisfy public opinion or to serve as an example. Wi
Tamararo, against whom the strongest evidence of murder was presented, deprived the government of a hanging by committing suicide, leaving Pere as the only real candidate. In the minutes of the Executive Council, an opinion was noted that "one execution will be useful as more would have been by way of example and caution".
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178:— this was the mandatory sentence for treason, although the judge indicated that perhaps the beheading and quartering would not actually be carried out. Pere and Tamararo were to be tried separately, as they were accused of murder as well as treason. Tamararo's trial began on 27 September, although treason charges were dropped, leaving only charges of murder. He was found guilty and sentenced to the same punishment as the others.
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More recently, Hamiora Pere's case has been re-examined, with some claiming that he was treated unfairly. It has been alleged that if the three other accused had their sentences commuted, Pere should have been treated the same way — there was no corroborated evidence that Pere had actually
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chose to commute the sentence of
Hetariki Te Oikau to life imprisonment. On 2 November, a surprise decision also commuted the sentences of Matene Te Karo and Rewi Tamanui Totitoti. This left Pere as the only person facing execution. Addressing Pere's case directly, the
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claimed that Pere's participation in the war had been voluntary, and accused him of active involvement in murders of colonists. It also said that Pere, unlike some others, had no tribal allegiances which compelled him to participate.
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Pere was hanged in
Wellington on 16 November 1869. He is the only New Zealander ever to be executed on charges of treason, with all other executees having been convicted of murder. As
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That Pere did not realise that
Britain regarded itself as sovereign over New Zealand, and that he, therefore, did not understand himself to be committing treason.
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Three of the accused, Te Oikau, Te Karo, and
Totitoti, began their trial on 20 September 1869, and were found guilty after four days. They were sentenced to be
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That even if Pere hadn't been conscripted, the cause he saw himself as fighting for (resisting the encroachment of those who were stealing his land) was just.
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When Pere himself began his trial, the murder charges were dropped, leaving only the charge of treason. Pere's defence focused on three primary claims:
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two days after being sentenced, leaving only four of the convicted alive. Later, on 13 October, the
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is no longer in effect, he is expected to retain this distinction permanently.
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crown. Pere and
Tamararo were also charged with murder.
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People executed for treason against the United
Kingdom
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