US businessman's appeal rejected

The Court of Appeal has dismissed an "urgent" appeal by an American businessman arrested at Auckland International Airport last month.

Vincent Ross Siemer was arrested at the airport on June 29 following an arrest warrant from the High Court.

Siemer was sentenced to six months' prison in January 2009 over defamatory comments about Vector chairman Michael Peter Stiassny on internet websites.

He was also ordered to pay Mr Stiassny $920,000.

In May, Siemer's sentence was halved by the Supreme Court because the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act guarantees everyone the right to a jury trial if the penalty is more than three months.

Siemer appealed his airport arrest on the grounds that the warrant was "bad" because it was based on fundamentally flawed court judgments.

The court dismissed the appeal to allow the case to proceed to the Supreme Court.

- NZPA