September 4, 2021
It was Ahamed Aathil Mohamed Samsudeen, 32 years old.
A Supreme Court order to keep her name a secret expired at 11 p.m. this evening, and family members have agreed not to ask to fight to have the name removed again
Ahamed Aathil Mohamed Samsudeen is a Sri Lankan citizen and a Tamil Muslim. He arrived in New Zealand on October 21, 2011 on a student visa from Sri Lanka. He was recognized as a refugee and subsequently received a residence visa.
On December 20, 2013, he was granted refugee status. Officials believed that if he returned to Sri Lanka he would be seriously injured due to his political background. It was admitted that he had been assaulted, kidnapped, physically assaulted and humiliated in the past.
However, on May 31, 2018, the Refugee Status Office informed Ahamed Aathil Mohamed Samsudeen of its intention to revoke his refugee status. If his refugee status had been revoked, he would have been deported to Sri Lanka.
On July 3, 2018, he was awaiting his conviction by the Auckland High Court and had his name withdrawn because the court ruled that the publication of his name could endanger his safety if he was subsequently deported. to Sri Lanka.
Ahamed Aathil Mohamed Samsudeen had appealed the letter of intent to terminate his refugee status and was awaiting the end of the hearing when he died. Punishment orders, including those relating to his immigration status, have now been revoked after his death.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed that she had no extremist views when she arrived in New Zealand.
Samsudeen became aware of the authorities less than five years after his arrival. Details of his crime have been listed in various court documents.
Police warned
Police officially warned Ahamed Aathil Mohamed Samsudeen on April 29 and May 25, 2016 after posting material related to ISIS, including videos and footage of violent war-related violence, on the internet. He made comments in support of violent extremism and in support of other terrorist attacks.
Official police warnings did not deter him, and Samsudeen continued to post pseudonymized content, including on Facebook.
In early April 2017, he walked into a retail store in an Auckland mall where he asked a Gem Visa credit card store to buy a phone. When completing the application, he provided false employment information and was subsequently issued a credit card with a credit of $ 6,000.
A few days later, the man went to a retail store on Queen Street, where he applied for a Q credit card to purchase a watch. Again, you provided false job information and received a credit card with a credit of $ 4,500.
On May 20, 2017, after booking a one-way flight for him, Samsudeen was arrested at Auckland International Airport and police are said to be on their way to Syria. Police then conducted a search warrant on his home and found a large hunting knife under a mattress on the floor, digital files containing propaganda videos and a photo of him posing with a gun.
Samsudeen was indicted and convicted on June 29, 2018 for deliberately distributing confidential publications and failing to assist the police in the exercise of their search powers.
He was released on bail but was arrested again on August 9, 2018 after purchasing another hunting knife, the same type found in the 2017 police search. He didn’t want to take the knife away so people thought it was. a bad person even who sent it to you by courier.
Another search warrant was carried out and the police discovered other contents related to the Islamic State on the devices in his home.
Suspect Sentenced
Ahamed Aathil Mohamed Samsudeen was arrested and sentenced to 12 months in custody on 19 September 2018 after pleading guilty to dishonest use of a document for profit in two cases, representing the reported distribution of limited material and the lack of support from a police on two. officers to exercise the power of search. .
A detention officer who interviewed him for an arrest report said he lived an isolated lifestyle, had a high level of sophistication and a propensity for violence. He showed a modicum of understanding of his crime and considered the allegations that he pleaded guilty “false”.
The evaluation indicated an average likelihood of recurrence but a low risk of harm.
The judge ruled that he had already been in custody for about 13 months, so a surveillance sentence was in order to encourage rehabilitation and reintegration. He would have been free to leave court were it not for the new charges he faced after his second arrest in August 2018.
Samsudeen was charged with criminal offenses after his arrest in August 2018, including possession of assault weapons and questionable assignments.
In July 2020, the Crown filed further charges under the Terrorism Suppression Act of 2002, claiming that Samsudeen had planned or otherwise prepared to cause death or serious injury by purchasing a knife on or around 9 August 2018.
The crown failed and was rejected by the High Court. The judge ruled that the lack of an offense under the Terrorism Planning or Preparedness Act could be “an Achilles heel” and sent both the UK and Australia back for the offense.
At trial, he was convicted of possession of a questionable publication on two counts and of failing to assist a police officer in the exercise of a search power on two counts of possession of a knife in a public place without valid reason.
Samsudeen was sentenced by a court on July 6, 2021.
Another prejudice report submitted to the court again mentioned his isolated lifestyle, his rights and his propensity for violence. This time, however, the report concluded that the risk of recurrence was high, posing a very high risk for others.
La Krone argued that an intensive regulatory solution with special conditions, including GPS tracking, was appropriate.
His lawyer disagreed, arguing that the risk of him escaping the country was not obvious, so GPS tracking (which was only available with intense regulatory resolution) was not was not a necessary condition.
At this point, Samsudeen had been in detention for about three years, which all parties and the judge admitted.
Eventually, Samsudeen was sentenced to one year in prison because the judge was “aware of how long he was in prison and that I should impose the least restrictive sentence that was appropriate”.
A number of special conditions were imposed, including being in a mosque in Auckland, where the president of that mosque was ready to help and support him once released.
There were restrictions on his possession of electronic devices and social media accounts. He was also ordered to undergo a rehabilitation examination, including a psychological examination which, according to TVNZ, did not take place until his death.
Again, had he not been charged with the additional charges, he would have been free to leave court, this time in Auckland District Court. He was taken into custody.
In July 2020, around the same time the Crown asked to add the additional terrorism charge, he appeared in Auckland District Court on charges of assault and bodily harm against prison officers. . The judge who ordered the deportation on the same grounds as the High Court in 2018: According to the court, there is a real risk that if his refugee status were revoked he would be deported to Sri Lanka and his safety threatened.
However, the events of Friday mean that he will no longer be brought to justice for the allegations. His death prompted another rush hour hearing in which the District Court overturned the name deletion in accordance with the High Court ruling: The danger he faced in relation to the publication of his refugee status does not exist. The police also wanted to request the stay and thus close the proceedings in the district court.
His lawyer tried to contact his family within the 24 hours allowed by the court to inform them of the court’s decision, including with his two brothers living abroad.
During the emergency hearing, it was revealed that his family were informed of Samsudeen’s death after a lawyer contacted them.