Slater could face more serious charges - police

High profile blogger Cameron Slater is "attacking the heart of our criminal justice system" and could face more serious charges, police say.

Police launched an investigation into Slater's website yesterday after he posted a coded message identifying a man charged in Nelson last week with indecently assaulting a girl aged between 12 and 16.

Slater is already facing five charges of breaching court suppression orders after identifying two prominent New Zealanders accused in separate sex offence cases.

Nelson Bays police area commander Detective Inspector John Winter said today the investigation was still in the early stages but Slater could be charged with contempt of court and be taken into custody.

The coded text could not be easily deciphered by the average computer user but messages left on the site showed people had been able to identify the man, he told Radio New Zealand.

"Clearly it attacks the very heart of our criminal justice system in a number of ways; that a person is entitled to presumption of innocence until the opposite is proven, the right to a fair trial, and in this case the breach of that order has the potential to identify the victim - the very reason the order was imposed."

Mr Winter said he would be liaising with police in Auckland over the previous breaches as well as speaking to a crown solicitor and the judge who issued the suppression order.

"He's certainly testing the boundaries of the law which doesn't adequately cover the use or abuse of the internet, so there's grey areas in both domestic and international law," he said.

Slater was using people "as tools for his own political ends".

Mr Winter said if Slater really wanted to change suppression laws there were other avenues open to him.

Slater is defending his actions.

He said today that police had not been in contact over the latest post.

Suppression was "almost never" appropriate and victimised many people, he told Radio New Zealand.

"The idea of it (suppression) was to be used few and far between, it seems that it's used all the time, particularly if you're part of the establishment - doctors, lawyers, celebrities," he said.

"In some cases you've got a very small population of people who it could possibly be and so in trying to protect victims you're actually victimising other people."

Slater said the adoption of suppression laws similar to those of Britain, Canada and the United States would lead to a more open and honest court system.

"Right now there is a perception that people are getting special favours," he said.

"I'm saying, let's get sensible about suppression and instead of having the interested parties, the establishment, sitting around deciding what we should and shouldn't have, lets have the public having some input".

Auckland lawyer Chris Comeskey said the law was in place for a "good reason", and it was his belief judges generally got it right when deciding whether or not to award it.

Police should look at laying more serious charges including perverting the course of justice, which carried a prison sentence, he told Radio New Zealand.

Slater was inviting "anarchy" by flouting decisions passed down by lawmakers and the judiciary, Mr Comeskey said.

- with MICHAEL FOX, Stuff.co.nz

- NZPA