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After a mass stabbing incident related to ISIL in Oakland, the new law will punish planning a “terrorist” attack, with a maximum sentence of 7 years in prison.
New Zealand has passed a law criminalizing the planning of a “terrorist” attack, tightening the precautions Fierce knife attack Earlier this month in the country’s largest city.
The new law approved on Thursday has been implemented for several months planning But on September 3, after a man inspired by the Islamic State (ISIS) organization grabbed a knife in an Oakland supermarket and started stabbing shoppers, he rushed through parliament.
He wounded five people in the chaos and two others were injured. Are all recovering.
Planning and preparing for a “terrorist” attack is now a crime, and Attorney General Kris Faafoi said this brings New Zealand’s security laws in line with most other countries.
“The nature of terrorism has changed. There are more lone actors around the world than larger organized groups,” Faafoi told Reuters in an emailed statement.
This legislation is less than a month after the police shot and killed the Auckland attacker, 32-year-old Sri Lankan national, Ahamed Aathil Samsudeen, who began to assassinate him frantically.
Samsudeen was convicted and jailed for approximately three years before being released in July.
On September 3, 2021, a police officer led employees away from the scene of an attack where a man injured many people in a shopping mall in Auckland, New Zealand [File: Ricky Wilson/ Stuff Limited via Reuters]New Zealand tried to sue Samsudeen for “terrorism” in 2020 because he bought a hunting knife and was found to be present with a video produced by ISIL.
The prosecutor argued that there is evidence that he bought the knife to kill people and promote ideological causes. But the judge ruled that the purchase of knives was not enough to continue the case.
The judge found that New Zealand’s anti-terrorism law did not specifically cover conspiracies. The judge admitted at the time that this “may be Achilles’ heel” and added that it is not the court’s responsibility to make new laws.
Samsudeen was released and under 24-hour police surveillance.
After the stabbing attack, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern promised to pass new legislation by the end of September. But Ardern also said that even if the new law is in place, it will not necessarily stop Samsudeen.
“This bill strengthens our anti-terrorism laws to better prevent and respond,” said Ginny Anderson, a lawmaker from the Ardern Labor Party. “And these changes will also allow the police to intervene earlier. If it can save lives and make New Zealanders safer, I believe this is a good thing.”
The Conservative National Party and the Labour Party voted in favor of the bill, which was passed by 98 votes to 22. But some of Ardern’s traditional liberal allies in Parliament voted against it.
The Green Party stated that their members are worried that the new law will be passed hastily without adequate consultation, and the definition of “terrorism” has been expanded to the extent that it may capture “direct action, activism, and protest.”
The Green Party said they are also concerned that some experts will characterize the new crime as a “thought crime” and that the incidental power to allow the authorities to search without a search warrant increases the risk of human rights violations.
The new crime of planning a “terrorist” attack carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. The bill also criminalizes going to or leaving New Zealand to conduct attacks, provide weapons for “terrorist” attacks, or conduct combat training.
Ardern has also been studying the need to modify New Zealand’s deportation laws and policies. Cancel Samsudeen obtained refugee status on fraud grounds in 2019 and ordered his deportation back to Sri Lanka.
At the time of the attack, Samsudeen’s appeal was still pending.
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