The National Party has released parts of a recording of convicted drug smuggler Karel Sroubek which it says proves he threatened his estranged wife and forced her to write a letter supporting his residency bid.
In the phone call between Sroubek and his wife, Sroubek appears audibly frustrated that she has submitted a character reference to his lawyer without showing him first.
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"Seriously do you want me to do something stupid? Do you want me to send somebody to talk to you? Because you are doing crazy stuff," Sroubek says on the recording.
Sroubek's wife accuses him of threatening her, but Sroubek denies that.
Sroubek suggests that she made a commitment two days earlier to show him the letter and discuss it with him before it was sent, and seems to blame her new partner for her change of heart.
"You were completely fine, you were absolutely fine two days ago. All of a sudden you start again, like having this. I don't know, you know, is it him? Is it because of him? What the f**k is he?"
National Party Justice Spokesman Mark Mitchell says the recording "gives a clear window into the kind of verbal abuse, coercion and threats that she's probably been facing for a good 12 months".
Newshub has heard a copy of the recording between Sroubek and his wife from May 3, and has been provided with excerpts from the call. Sroubek is in prison and the phone call was recorded by Corrections and released to the lawyers of Sroubek's wife.
The call ends when Sroubek hangs up on his wife after saying "the day before yesterday, you go out with this prick, and all of a sudden everything is changing. Like, you know what, I'm not going to f**king let it go. F**k off".
Sroubek's lawyer Paul Wicks QC told Newshub he is unable to comment: "In the absence of having the entire recording available, an opportunity to listen to it and take instructions from my client."
Sroubek is liable to be deported to the Czech Republic when he's released from jail after a major u-turn by the Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway.
Mr Lees-Galloway granted Sroubek permanent residency based on an application which included Sroubek's wife's letter. The case has since been highly publicised after it was revealed Mr Lees-Galloway made the decision in under an hour and without reading Sroubek's full immigration file.
Originally from the Czech Republic, Sroubek fled to New Zealand in 2003 on a false passport.
In 2015, he was convicted of importing MDMA and jailed for almost six years. In 2009 he returned to the Czech Republic, despite implying there was a danger to his life in his home country.
Newshub.
