Christian Heritage Party board member and policy director Mark Munroe has rejected calls to resign for openly supporting convicted pedophile Graham Capill, and saying the former leader's crimes did not meet the biblical definition of rape. An email from Munroe, defending Capill's crimes saying "The offences were not rape as understood from what I understand the Bible to mean, which is why Graham had such a concern about how to plea. Rape of a married woman carried the death penalty. Multiple convictions of any offence could merit the death penalty. But neither of these cases apply to Graham." This email was leaked to Kiwiblog, where it caused public outrage. Christian Heritage NZ leader Ewen McQueen responded by posting a message on the party's website saying Munroe had been asked to resign and said the party did not agree "in any way" with Munroe's comments. "Like most New Zealanders I am dumbfounded that anyone would want to continue debating the technicalities of the Capill case ... " Munroe, however, refuses to resign saying he has not received a request in writing, and he does not believe there are any grounds for his resignation. The Christian Heritage Party has been subject to public criticism and humiliation after their former leader and strident moral campaigner was convicted of rape, sexual violations and indecent assaults on girls aged between five and 11. The party has worked to rebuild its image under new leader McQueen, but at this years election it registered just 0.12% of the vote, down from 1.35% in 2002.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Friday, 30th September 2005 - 12:00pm