9/5/2021 NZ terror attack: Ahamed Aathill Mohammad Samsudeen

Updated World Oceania Extremism

Terrorist responsible for Auckland

supermarket stabbings named
By Michelle Griffin and Catrin Owen
Updated September 4, 2021 — 10.20pm, first published at 9.04pm

The man who stabbed at least five people and injured another two in a terrorist attack at
an Auckland shopping mall has been named as Ahamed Aathill Mohammad Samsudeen
after a suppression order was lifted on Saturday night.

Samsudeen, 32, arrived in New Zealand in 2011 from Sri Lanka on a student visa.

A Muslim, he arrived seeking refugee status, claiming he and his father had experienced
serious problems with Sri Lankan authorities due to their political backgrounds.

Auckland terrorist Ahamed Aathill Mohammad Samsudeen.

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9/5/2021 NZ terror attack: Ahamed Aathill Mohammad Samsudeen

Samsudeen’s refugee status was granted on December 20, 2013 after a tribunal found he
had a well-founded fear of facing harm if he returned to Sri Lanka.

However, on May 31, 2018, the Refugee Status Branch served Samsudeen notice of its
intention to cancel his refugee status – meaning he would be deported to Sri Lanka –
after a string of incidents in which he posted extreme videos and pictures online.

Police first started investigating him in March 2016 when he shared videos and pictures of
graphic war-related violence, and comments advocating violent extremism. He also
posted comments in support of terrorists involved in attacks.

Auckland attacker Ahamed Aathill Mohammad Samsudeen. STUFF.CO.NZ

In 2017, he was arrested at Auckland Airport, where he was in possession of a one-way

ticket for Singapore, after he told a person at an Auckland mosque he wanted to go to
Syria “to fight for ISIS”.

When his refugee status looked set to be revoked in 2018, Samsudeen protested against
that move, saying he was afraid of being deported to Sri Lanka.

At the same time, Samsudeen was before the courts on charges of possessing ISIS
propaganda. He was later convicted.

During that process, the court used the Immigration Act 2009 to ban publication of
Samsudeen’s identity and status as a refugee.

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9/5/2021 NZ terror attack: Ahamed Aathill Mohammad Samsudeen

Police guard the area around the New Lynn mall where the terror attack took place. GETTY

His Google searches and computer bookmarks from July and August 2018 included:
Islamic State dress, New Zealand prison clothes and food, improvised explosive devices,
heroes of Isis and an Isis-issued booklet on how to avoid being detected by Western
security.

At his latest trial in 2021, Samsudeen claimed his internet searches and videos were not
evidence he supported Islamic State.

Some videos included a soldier killing a civilian, a soldier killing a 13-year-old child, and
people being bound and burnt.

Prior to the Auckland supermarket attack, Samsudeen was being watched by New Zealand
police 24 hours a day after High Court ruled that he could not be jailed for planning an
earlier, foiled terrorist attack.

The Crown had sought to charge him under the Terrorism Suppression Act, but the
application was declined as the law does not cover plans for attacks.

He was instead sentenced to one year’s supervision for possession of extremist material.

Samsudeen was facing further charges of assault and injuring with intent to injure after
attacking prison guards while he was on remand.

He had been ordered to undergo a psychological assessment but no such assessment

happened. He was also directed to live at a West Auckland mosque and was not allowed to
move from that address without approval.

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Although his name had been suppressed since 2018, he had become New Zealand’s worst-
kept secret, his activities closely tracked by counter-terrorism officials, local journalists
and politicians.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. GETTY IMAGES

The shocking broad daylight attack has raised questions about the effectiveness of the
nation’s counter-terrorism laws, which were due to be overhauled in the wake of the 2019
Christchurch mosque killings by Australian far-right terrorist Brenton Tarrant.

New Zealand Prime Minster Jacinda Ardern has revealed that on the same day Samsudeen
grabbed a knife from a supermarket shelf and started stabbing fellow customers, New
Zealand’s Justice Minister was rushing to amend the nation’s counter-terrorism laws to
allow extremists to be detained before attacks were carried out.

Samsudeen was being shadowed by the police when he went to the New Lynn shopping
mall in Auckland on Friday afternoon. He went shopping for 10 minutes in a supermarket
before grabbing a knife from a shelf and attacking people around him, stabbing at least
five people and injuring two others. Three were critically injured.

CCTV suggested police took 69 seconds to respond after the attack began. Police shot him
dead as he ran out of the supermarket still wielding the knife.

In a press conference, Ardern said that even if the laws had been amended in time, they
could not have applied retrospectively.

“We wanted to make this rule change, but it is still really speculative to say that even that
would have made a difference here,” she said. “This individual was kept in prison as long

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as we could. He was charged with possessing objectionable materials, and for possessing
a knife.”

Ardern said the courts had rejected an application from the government to monitor
Samsudeen’s movements through GPS tracking, so when he was released from remand in
July, a dedicated police team started round-the-clock surveillance.

The Prime Minister said she was personally updated on the case in late July, and by
August 9 had met with officials to discuss “further options to try and reduce the risk that
this person posed to the community”.

“In late August, officials including the commissioner of police raised the possibility of
expediting the amendments to the counter-terrorism legislation,” she said. “Within 48
hours of these discussions, the Minister of Justice contacted the chair of the select
committee with the intention of speeding that law change up. That was yesterday, the
same day the attack happened.

“As you can see, agencies used every tool available to protect innocent people from this
individual. Every legal avenue was tried.”

Ardern said that while she supported the courts releasing the Samsudeen’s name, she
would not to name him herself.

“No terrorist, whether alive or deceased, deserves their name to be shared for the infamy
they were seeking,” she said.

On Friday night, High Court judge Justice Edwin Wylie had ruled Samsudeen could be
named, but delayed publication for 24 hours to give his family time to seek suppression if
they wish. That suppression order was lifted late Saturday.

Stuff.co.nz, with staff reporters

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Michelle Griffin is world editor Connect via Twitter or email.

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