Ardern reveals ‘frustration’ at failure to deport terrorist
NEW ZEALAND had been trying for years to deport the Daesh-inspired radical who went on a frenzied stabbing attack, prime minister Jacinda Ardern revealed last Saturday (4), saying it was “frustrating” he was allowed to stay free.
The lifting of suppression orders showed the attacker, Sri Lankan Ahamed Aathil Mohamed Samsudeen, was served a deportation notice in April 2019 after his refugee status was revoked.
While the legal process dragged on, Samsudeen grabbed a knife off a supermarket shelf in Auckland last Friday (3) and injured seven people, leaving three critically wounded, before he was shot dead by police who were tailing him.
Ardern, who referred to Samsudeen as “the terrorist” and did not mention his name, was able to outline steps New Zealand had taken to try to deport him after the legal suppressions were removed late last Saturday.
Samsudeen arrived in New Zealand as a 22-year-old in 2011 on a student visa and was granted refugee status two years later. In 2016, he came to the attention of the police and intelligence agencies after expressing sympathy on Facebook for terrorist attacks. During their investigations, it became evident the refugee status was fraudulently obtained and the process began to cancel his right to stay in New Zealand, Ardern said.
The following year he was arrested at Auckland Airport, when it was suspected he was on his way to Syria and a police search of his home had revealed a large hunting knife and “material related to (Daesh) ISIS propaganda”, court documents said. Ardern said deportation notices were served in April 2019.
Samsudeen, who described himself as a Tamil Muslim, appealed the deportation and told a court he faced “arrest, detention, mistreatment and torture” if sent back to Sri Lanka. “He was still in prison at this time, and facing criminal charges. For a number of reasons, the deportation appeal could not proceed until after the conclusion of the criminal trial in May 2021,” Ardern said.
“In the meantime, agencies were concerned about the risk this individual posed to the community,” she added, noting officials knew he could be released and the appeal, “which was stopping his deportation, may take some time”.
The country’s immigration agency looked into ways of detaining Samsudeen during the appeal process through the Immigration Act, according to Ardern.
“It was incredibly disappointing and frustrating when legal advice came back to say this wasn’t an option,” she said.
Samsudeen at that stage had been held in custody for three years and authorities had exhausted all avenues to keep him detained. Attempts to have him charged under New Zealand’s Terrorism Suppression Act were unsuccessful
and Ardern said changes to counterterrorism legislation were expected to be approved by parliament before the end of the month.“In late August, officials including the commissioner of police raised the possibility of expediting the amendments,” she said.
Police commissioner Andrew Coster said there had been nothing unusual
about the man’s actions in the lead up to the attack, and he had appeared to be doing normal grocery shopping.
Because he had a “high level of paranoia” around surveillance, Coster said the police kept their distance, and it took more than two minutes to reach the man and shoot him after he started his stabbing spree.