New Zealand to criminalise attack planning after mall stabbing
Send a link to a friend
[September 04, 2021]
By Praveen Menon
WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand Prime
Minister Jacinda Ardern vowed on Saturday to tighten counter-terrorism
laws this month after a knife-wielding militant known to the authorities
stabbed and wounded seven people in a supermarket.
Police shot dead the 32-year-old attacker, a Sri Lankan national who had
been convicted and imprisoned for about three years before being
released in July, moments after he launched his stabbing spree on
Friday.
Ardern said earlier the man was inspired by the Islamic State militant
group and was being monitored constantly but could not be kept in prison
by law any longer.
"I am committing, that as soon as Parliament resumes, we will complete
that work – that means working to pass the law as soon as possible, and
no later than by the end of this month," Ardern told a news conference.
The Counter Terror Legislation Bill criminalises planning and
preparation that might lead to terror attack, closing what critics have
said has been a loophole allowing plotters to stay free.
But Ardern said it would not be fair to assume that the tighter law
would have made a difference in this case.
"This was a highly motivated individual who used a supermarket visit as
a shield for an attack. That is an incredibly tough set of
circumstances," she said.
Ardern said the attacker came to the attention of the police in 2016
because of his support for a violent ideology inspired by Islamic State.
Police were following the man when he went into the Countdown
supermarket in New Lynn mall in Auckland. They said they had thought he
had gone in to do some shopping but he picked up a knife from a display
and started stabbing people.
Police said they shot him within a minute of the start of the attack.
SEEKING INFAMY
Ardern said the man arrived in New Zealand in 2011 on a student visa and
was not known to have held any extreme views.
He came to the attention of police in 2016 after he expressed sympathy
on Facebook for militant attacks, violent war-related videos and
comments advocating violent extremism.
[to top of second column]
|
Police respond to the scene of an attack carried out by a man shot
dead by police after he injured multiple people at a shopping mall
in Auckland, New Zealand, September 3, 2021. Stuff Limited/Ricky
Wilson via REUTERS
In May 2017, he was arrested at Auckland's airport
where authorities believed he was travelling to Syria. He was
charged after restricted publications and a hunting knife were
discovered at his house but was released on bail.
In August 2018, he again bought a knife and was arrested and jailed.
He was released into the community in July this year when
surveillance began, Ardern said.
Ardern was briefed on the case in late July and again in late August
and officials, including the commissioner of police, raised the
possibility of expediting the amendment to the counter-terrorism
legislation.
Ardern said she wanted to explain why the attacker had not been
deported but could not because to do so would violate court
suppression orders, which also prevented her from identifying, him,
she said.
But she said had no intention of naming him anyway.
"No terrorist, whether alive or deceased, deserves their name to be
shared for the infamy they were seeking," she said.
New Zealand supermarket group Countdown said on Saturday it had
removed knives and scissors from its shelves while it considers
whether it would continue to sell them.
"We want all of our team to feel safe when they come to work," said
Kiri Hannifin, Countdown’s general manager for safety said in a
media statement.
Other supermarket chains had also removed sharp knives from their
shelves, media reported.
(Reporting by Praveen Menon; Editing by William Mallard, Robert
Birsel)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|