Long-time David Bain supporter Joe Karam has slammed the New Zealand justice system and the process leading to the Government's $925,000 payment to Mr Bain.
Mr Bain was jailed for 13 years for the 1994 murder of his family. He was then acquitted at a 2009 retrial, and sought compensation.
On Tuesday, Justice Minister Amy Adams announced Mr Bain would not be rewarded compensation after a report by former Australian Supreme Court judge Ian Callinan found him not innocent on the balance of probabilities.
However the Bain party has decided to accept a one-off $925,000 ex-gratia payment.
Ms Adams said the payment is "in recognition of the time involved and expenses incurred by Mr Bain during the compensation process and the desirability of avoiding further litigation".
However, Mr Karam says the Government's offer is "an anathema, an abomination to principles of justice and fairness" and says it is more like a hush payment.
"It's my belief that the real reason the Government has settled on this basis is to avoid a further judicial review which would have been extremely embarrassing for cabinet and certainly for the current minster Amy Adams."
He says the reason they took the payment was because the chances of winning yet another case was slim.
"We felt the cards were overwhelmingly stacked against him and so we decided to accept the offer made by the Government."
He attacks the Callinan report, which said Mr Bain's innocence could not be proved beyond reasonable doubt, as "riddled with errors of fact, inconsistencies and one-sided treatment of the evidence".
Mr Karam says that continuing legal action would have extended Mr Bain's fight for another few years, which Mr Bain didn't want.
Newshub.
