Golriz Ghahraman, a New Zealand member of parliament, has resigned over multiple charges of stealing, which police are investigating.
Ghahraman of the Green Party is accused of stealing three times from two clothing retailers, one in Auckland and another in Wellington.
In 2017, the former UN human rights lawyer became the first refugee to join the country’s administration. She formerly held her party’s justice portfolio.
Work-related stress caused her to behave utterly out of character, she claimed.
“I have let down a lot of people, and I am very sorry,” she added.
Her resignation on Tuesday came after CCTV evidence surfaced of her reportedly stealing a luxury handbag from an Auckland retailer.
The 42-year-old, who has not been charged with any crime, said in a statement that her conduct had “fallen short” of the high norms of behavior required of elected officials.
“It’s not a behavior I can explain because it’s not rational in any way, and after medical evaluation, I understand I’m not well,” she said, adding that she did not want to make excuses for herself.
“The mental health professional I see says my recent behavior is consistent with recent events giving rise to an extreme stress response and relating to previously unrecognized trauma.”
In response to her resignation, Green Party co-leader James Shaw stated that Ms. Ghahraman was subject to “pretty much continuous threats of sexual violence, physical violence, and 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.”.
Ms. Ghahraman has already spoken out about the harassment she has experienced online and in person because of her Iranian origin, gender, and public opinions on different subjects.
“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,” she told national broadcaster TVNZ in 2021.
More recently, she has been chastised for participating in pro-Palestinian marches and criticizing Israel’s military activities in its war against Hamas in Gaza while serving as the Green Party’s foreign affairs and human rights spokesman.
