‘Challenge’ organising travel for sentencing

Immigration officials say it will be ‘‘a challenge’’ to organise overseas travel for those wanting to attend the sentencing of the Christchurch mosque shooter.

Due to be held in Christchurch on August 24, the sentencing is just over seven weeks away.

New Zealand’s border presently remains closed to everyone except citizens due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Some survivors are trapped abroad due to the travel restrictions and are concerned about making the sentencing date.

Nicola Hogg, Immigration New Zealand’s (INZ) general manager of border and visa operations, said determining exact options for people who need to travel to New Zealand was being progressed ‘‘as quickly as practicable’’.

Hogg was ‘‘mindful’’ travellers would likely have to go through a special application progress, secure a seat on one of a ‘‘limited’’ number of international flights, and complete the isolation period upon arrival. ‘‘This will make facilitating travel in this timeframe a challenge,’’ she said.

INZ was working with the Muslim community and was committed to relieving ‘‘stress and anxiety’’ about immigration issues.

Victims and families unable to be present in court will be able to watch the sentencing and present victim impact statements via a livestream.

Linwood Islamic Centre imam Abdul Alabi Lateef said it was likely some people would not be able to travel back to New Zealand for the sentencing.

He agreed the court needed to proceed and not wait for the ‘‘unknown’’ of when the border would reopen.

‘‘Yes it’s painful for some of the family members, but there is nothing we can do about that.’’

Lateef said although the sentencing would be a relief, it would not feel like closure, as Muslims ‘‘still have to be careful’’. He did not want to see the shooter’s face and did not have anything to say to him, he said.