Woman accused of murder of children stuffed into suitcases in New Zealand pushes to keep name secret

The South Korean woman charged after the bodies of two children were found in suitcases in New Zealand is continuing to ask that her name is kept secret.

Last week, the woman appeared briefly at New Zealand's High Court where she said she is "going to prove her innocence" as she was led back to the cells.

The woman, the children's mother, was earlier extradited from South Korea after an international hunt.

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She has pleaded not guilty to two charges of murder and is set to go to trial in Auckland in 2024.

Back in March, Justice Anne Hinton refused to grant the woman continued name suppression.

Today at the Court of Appeal, her lawyer Chris Wilkinson-Smith submitted the application for continued suppression was again made on the basis of extreme hardship and said publication would endanger the woman's safety.

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Wilkinson-Smith said Justice Hinton failed to put proper weight on health reports when refusing to grant continued suppression.

However, prosecutor Gareth Kayes opposed name suppression and said the health report was taken at its highest by Justice Hinton.

In her judgment, Justice Hinton said the test was whether there was a real and appreciable possibility of increased risk to the defendant.

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"While it sounds harsh, that is the relevant test," she ruled.

"I have not been provided with evidence showing that [the defendant] would likely be severely affected by the publication of her name or that her safety would be endangered."

Tania Goatley acting on behalf of Stuff, RNZ, NZME and Newshub, opposed continued suppression.

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Justice Forrie Miller, Justice Mark Woolford and Justice Helen Cull reserved the decision.

The children were discovered by members of the public who bought the contents of the storage locker in an auction.

They were not aware the children's bodies were inside until they brought the suitcases home.

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Strict suppression orders prevent media from revealing the children's identities. Those orders were made by the coroner following an application from members of the children's wider family.

The woman was arrested at a southern port city of South Korea in September, based on a domestic court warrant issued after New Zealand requested her provisional arrest.

South Korean police said the woman was born in South Korea and later moved to New Zealand, where she gained citizenship.

Immigration records showed she returned to South Korea in 2018.

This article originally appeared on Stuff and is republished here with permission.