Sun is up, I'm a mess
Gotta get out now, gotta run from this
Here comes the shame, here comes the shame
Yesterday Golriz Ghahraman’s fall from grace was complete. Convicted and sentenced, more harshly that I’d anticipated.
In my view Golriz had suffered quite disproportionally already, considering the nature of her crime. I’d assumed that the completion of court activities would simply draw a line under a very sad episode. Allowing Golriz to begin to rebuild her life with maybe a little leniency and understanding. So I was quite shocked when the headlines arrived.
Reading the article I was struck by the words of the judge describing her rationale. It didn’t seem to add up.
On the one hand there was acknowledgement of what Golriz had already been through as a consequence of her actions, yet on the other there seemed no recognition of that in the judgement. I posted the following to Facebook and X:
Maryanne replied “How do sports people get discharged without conviction because it may adversely impact their career? Fucking unfair!”
Inevitably, given that the post was about a woman under pressure and alluded to compassion, the trolls soon arrived to spew their hatred. So I set about the tiresome process of deleting comments and blocking accounts on Facebook. As for the platform formerly known as Twitter - abandon all hope ye that enter there…
My apologies to those who saw the vile comments on Facebook, and if you saw them on X - I imagine they were much as you expected. The barely literate snorting of pigs, with apologies to our porcine friends who I’m sure are much smarter than these swamp trolls.
None of the people turning up were there to attack me, as in the past with posts about Jacinda. Usually I’ll get the standard messages mocking me as some sort of obsessed fan because I acknowledge we had a bloody good PM. But not with Golriz, it was just all hatred and anger directed at her. Why?
Because she’s an immigrant with a high profile who is earnest and cares too much about things, to her own detriment?
Do they get some pleasure out of being as horrible as possible in the face of a tragic tale that has ended not only Golriz’s political career but with this conviction reduced the likelihood of her being able to resume a legal career too?
![Former Green Party MP Golriz Ghahraman arrives at Auckland District Court to find out her fate after pleading guilty to shoplifting. Former Green Party MP Golriz Ghahraman arrives at Auckland District Court to find out her fate after pleading guilty to shoplifting.](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcef74529-5e16-4fe9-8776-d853eccc877c_1050x656.jpeg)
Essentially all her life’s work, everything she has battled to achieve gone as a result of shoplifting clothes in an obvious cry for help. Events she has made every attempt to apologise for, and put right.
The judge acknowledging that “the defendant pleaded guilty at her first appearance, she voluntarily paid restitution and she met with Scotties Boutique to make amends even before criminal charges were laid.”
“Ms Ghahraman has demonstrated her deep remorse for her offending.. ..[She] is seeking to make amends.”
This following extract is from an article in the NZ Herald:
“This conduct by the media forced her to stay inside her home for a number of days,” the judge said. “She described this as an extraordinarily isolating experience.”
It would not have been dissimilar, the judge opined, to someone confined to their home on electronically monitored bail conditions.
That intense media interest can be combined, the judge said, with other punitive consequences Ghahraman has already faced, including loss of employment, income and adverse effects on her mental health.
I don’t know much about Golriz’s family or her community, but I assume they have been very proud to see her achievements. Can you imagine? Fleeing your homeland for a better life and your child, a refugee to these shores, becomes a member of your new nation’s parliament?
There must have been great pride at Golriz’s achievements, and now that is dashed the impact must be immense. Another way in which she has suffered. Too much in my view. Too much. It doesn’t feel right at all. I’m holding back tears unsuccessfully as I write this - it’s one of those newsletters where I just want to scream on to the page.
I still couldn’t get my head around the rationale for a conviction. Are we supposed to hold MPs to some higher standard of character than the rest of the population?
Sorry, have you seen some of these people? Those in bed with big tobacco and energy companies? This is not our moral high ground. If anything we should be looking at the abuse and pressures heaped on our MPs and see it as an aggravating factor.
The trolls wouldn’t like that of course, they want their blood, but maybe we should think of our parliamentarians as being simply human. Not the best of us, many of them aren’t. Although it’s fair to say that someone like Golriz is a role model, but what’s the message we’re sending to people that see her as such? With this failure to show leniency, or in my view to take her mental health seriously.
My friend Gerard had his usual post late last evening, checking in with how people were doing. This to me is what social media is for, people being able to share their thoughts openly with others in a positive environment. Quite the contrast with the vile spewings of the damaged men slamming their fragile egos against their keyboards that I’d been observing.
I should add, I do know some of the comments are from women too, and that doesn’t make it any better. But it isn’t the female of the species, the lady trolls, that make me genuinely concerned for the safety of people like Golriz.
Anyway, so I had a bit more of a vent replying to Gerard’s post:
Been deleting trolls off a post I wrote about Golriz Ghahraman, there are some really horrible people out there, revolting excuses for human beings. So that sucks.
Looking forward to the long weekend and Matariki, seems like a good thing left by the last government.
I wonder what the smug pricks in our government are doing now? Peeling the public face off and returning to human, or perhaps lizard, form? What satisfaction do they take from the things they're doing? Does it weigh on them? Probably not, I imagine they care not.
I'm glad I'm not like them, or those miserable trolls wanting to twist the knife on someone who is down. That must be a miserable way to live.
Glad for good people with kind hearts who care about things.
Vicky replied, “I still have to believe the kind ones outnumber the cruel. But they are louder.” Such is the way with bullies.
You know I used to feel sorry for the trolls. I’d wonder what on earth had happened in their lives to make them so full of hate - especially towards women. Now I mostly feel concerned for the women in their lives.
I’m not going to repeat the things they said, not even for shock value. Sad reality is I don’t need to, you know what they’re like, the words they lash out with to cause pain. But in saying that we all sadly know what sort of things they say, that doesn’t suggest for a moment that we should accept it.
It’s not normal, people should not behave in that way in a society. Maybe these trolls are the people that should actually be on trial? Oh and please save me the bleeding hearts message about free speech. I have no interest in protecting a troll’s right to hate speech. Yes there is a line. No I don’t know exactly where it is - but I’m pretty damn sure that the comments I saw last night are on the other side of it.
Cheryl replied: “the abuse this young woman has had to cope with, both in her home country and here in Aotearoa, is unbelievable. The smug reaction from so many who have never been exposed to this type of experience, is disgusting.
Unfortunately, too many smug individuals believe they have a right to judge. Abuse traumatises. It can result in many forms of behaviour that ‘doesn't fit’ with societal ‘norms’.
Golriz, herself, still cannot really explain why she did it, but she has taken responsibility and pleaded guilty. Good on her. Sadly, too many have jumped on the political expediency of blame…”
Cheryl is right, Golriz herself cannot understand why it happened. Some of you will have seen her interview yesterday with John Campbell. It’s here if you haven’t:
If we carry on like we have been we’re going to end up with no women in our parliament. Be they refugees, Māori, or simply too kind.
These trolls, these so called “men”, glorying in their ignorance and hate, pouring out the frustrations of their pathetic little lives into online abuse of women are damaging our democracy. No doubt dissuading others from putting themselves forward for such attack. They’re also harming our society as we grow used to what should be considered very abnormal behaviour on their part.
I dearly hope that Golriz can find future happiness, contributing in a way that she finds meaningful, and that the scars of her time in parliament heal eventually.
As for the trolls… I think there should be consequences for their actions. If they behaved in public the way they do online, yelling abuse and threats, they’d be arrested. Maybe they should be?
What do you think?
I share your frustration with the sentencing. Somehow the ‘hate’ part of society has been given licence to attack successful women who don’t look like Stepford wives (think National Caucus) and in particular if they are green as well as brown. I was stunned when Maiki Sherman used the poll results on Monday’s OneNews to deliver an all out assault on the Green Party, wondering if the judge is from a similar tribe?
So well said, Nick. My heart breaks for Golriz. I wish her much aroha, hope she is getting truckloads of support, and wish her all the very best for her future. The trolls are too noisy. As far as is possible we need to drown them out with love. One of my friends wrote to me this morning commenting on what a sad place Aotearoa is at the moment. I think it was made even sadder by Golriz’s conviction yesterday in the face of all the evidence recommending discharge without conviction. Kia Kaha Golriz