Police and the Whāngarei council are defending their decision to shut down a 'hellfire-and-brimstone' preacher in the city mall.
The preacher - who is blessed with a loud voice - was asked to move on after delivering a lengthy old-style sermon to bemused shoppers in Cameron Street recently.
But free speech campaigners are now challenging the use of police to silence him.
RNZ's Lois Williams reports.
