Golriz Ghahraman
Innocent until proven Guilty?
Like some of you, I imagine, my heart sank when I saw the headlines about Golriz Ghahraman on Wednesday.
I commented that evening: “Feeling really sad about the news on Golriz, I hope she has good people around her that are making her feel loved. I don't much care what happened although with all the abuse directed at her I'm willing to cut her a mile of slack.”
Which isn’t to say that I think anyone gets a free pass to break the law, no matter how much vicious, threatening, and abusive vitriol they have been subjected to.
More so that I was willing to consider that somebody under pressure, someone who might be dealing with things we’re not aware of, could make a mistake.
I feel like there’ve been too many young women ripped apart for misdemeanours, or even for nothing much at all, other than being a young, intelligent, woman. Jacinda, Tory, Kiri, and now Golriz. All have encountered cowardly, mostly anonymous, online trolls spewing their revolting hatred.
Again, there should be no free passes, but how about the media for once treat things in proportion?
Other people in politics have done much worse and gotten off lightly. One even had his name suppressed for the most vile crimes right through the election campaign.
But you just knew there wasn’t going to be any decency, compassion, or concept of being innocent until proven guilty, for Golriz.
No, not her. She’s outspoken on things like Gaza, she’s a refugee, a Greenie, and a woman. There would be no going easy on her, as the usual suspects have shown.
What happens with “coloured young women”, Sean? Do you mean people like you rip them to pieces for the entertainment of your audience?
I couldn’t help wondering who had leaked it. Seems unlikely that it would come from the Police, or the Green Party, and the only other people who knew were those from Scottie’s Boutique - be it the owners, the staff, or the customers.
A friend suggested it was probably someone gossiping. “You can see the scenario - met a mate at the local, hey you wanna know something, that shop where I sometimes go, heard that yanno that foreigner woman in the Greens. Tried to take a really expensive dress by hiding it in her bag. Yanno, that Golriz someone.
Yeah really? Oh yes it's true cos my best friends next door neighbour’s cousin told me.”
Sounds like a possibility, someone saying it a bit too loudly in public. Like Anne Tolley did over Winston's Super overpayment. Oops.
On Wednesday all the media outlets ran essentially the same article. As they did on Thursday when someone realised Golriz was overseas. She was “on a personal trip that was planned many months ago” - not fleeing the country as some suggested. Like antivax barbie…
But before it appeared in the headlines it was spawned by a blogger called Marc Spring. A Cameron Slater associate who seems more than a little obsessed with Golriz if his recent blog posts are anything to go by…
So what did Mr Spring have to say in all of these blogs? Here a few highlights, his first post setting the scene:
