The man responsible for a knife attack in a supermarket in New Zealand had been watched for five years and jailed for three years before authorities exhausted all avenues to keep him in detention, the prime minister revealed on Saturday Jacinda Ardern.
The man, inspired by ISIS, was released in July and has been under police surveillance since.
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On Friday, the 32-year-old Sri Lankan took a knife from an Auckland supermarket and attacked seven people, three of whom were seriously injured, before being shot dead by armed police tasked with following him.
The court's suppression orders prevented Jacinda Ardern from explaining why the terrorist was not deported, but she said steps were already in place to strengthen New Zealand's crackdown on terrorism laws.
The man, who arrived in New Zealand on a student visa in 2011, came to the attention of police in 2016 after expressing his sympathy for the terrorist attacks on Facebook.
He was arrested in 2018 for possession of a knife and other objectionable equipment and was considered a "
lone wolf
" planning a knife attack.
While in detention, he was further charged with assaulting guards, but attempts to have him charged under New Zealand's Suppression of Terrorism law were unsuccessful.
New Zealand law changes
Although the man was convicted of some charges, he had already spent three years in prison on remand and "
all the possibilities to continue his detention had been exhausted
," said Jacinda Ardern, even if "
the risk mitigation measures were already underway
”.
Jacinda Ardern added that changes to New Zealand's counterterrorism legislation are expected to be approved by Parliament before the end of the month.
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Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said there was nothing unusual about the man's actions before the attack, and he appeared to shop normally. He added that the police had kept their distance because the man had a "
high level of paranoia
" regarding his surveillance, and it took more than two minutes to reach and shoot him after he was killed. started frantically stabbing customers. “
We had no legal reason to keep him in detention. The follow-up of its actions was entirely dependent on the ability of the surveillance teams to maintain their coverage as they observed it over a long period of time,
”said Andrew Coster.