Former New Zealand MP Golriz Ghahraman pleads guilty in shoplifting case that shocked nation

A former New Zealand MP pleaded guilty to four counts of shoplifting in an Auckland court on Wednesday after she was charged with stealing $8,917 worth of items.

Golriz Ghahraman from the Green Party resigned in January this year after CCTV footage showed her taking a designer bag from a boutique.

"I have let down a lot of people and I am very sorry," she said at the time of her resignation, explaining that work-related stress made her behave “out of character”.

A former UN human rights lawyer, Ms Graharaman made history in 2017 after being elected as the first refugee in the country’s government. She fled from Iran as a child and was granted political asylum in New Zealand.

However, since being elected, Ms Ghahraman spoke out about the abuse she faced because of her Iranian heritage, gender, as well as political stance.

On Wednesday, the 43-year-old admitted to shoplifting charges in relation to three incidents in Auckland and one in Wellington, 1 News reported.

While two incidents relate to Ponsonby retailer Scotties Boutique on 21 and 23 December last year, the third is related to Wellington retailer Cre8iveworkx on 22 October. Another incident that took place at Standard Issue in Auckland’s Newmarket on 22 December was laid out last month.

Ms Ghahraman, who is due back in court on 24 June, was not expected in court until 20 March but the dates were brought forward by a week to Wednesday.

The case hearing was postponed twice due to the addition of the third and fourth charge. The offence carries a maximum penalty of seven years’ imprisonment.

“It’s not a behaviour I can explain because it’s not rational in any way, and after medical evaluation, I understand I’m not well," she said earlier. "The mental health professional I see says my recent behaviour is consistent with recent events giving rise to extreme stress response, and relating to previously unrecognised trauma."

Meanwhile, her lawyer Annabel Cresswell lambasted the media coverage on mental health surrounding her client, adding that Ms Ghahraman has been a victim of abuse since the matters came to light.

Her Green Party co-leader James Shaw at the time of her resignation said that his colleague had been subjected to "pretty much continuous threats of sexual violence, physical violence, death threats since the day she was elected to parliament".

"That has added a higher level of stress than is experienced by most members of parliament," he said.

"There have been police investigations into those threats almost the entire time that she has been a member of parliament, and so obviously if you’re living with that level of threat in what is already quite a stressful situation then there are going to be consequences for that".

In 2017, Ms Ghahraman was given an escort after she received threats from white supremacists. Speaking out about the abuse, Ms Ghahraman told TVNZ in 2021: "Eventually some of the online threats I faced got to the point where I had to carry a security alarm and have security escorts back and forth from Parliament.”