New Zealand tried for years to deport Auckland supermarket terrorist Ahamed Aathil Mohamed Samsudeen - Daily Mail

Officials in New Zealand tried for YEARS to deport supermarket terrorist who stabbed seven before being shot dead after he arrived from Sri Lanka as student in 2011, Jacinda Ardern reveals

• Ahamed Aathil Mohamed Samsudeen stabbed seven people in Auckland shop
• He arrived in New Zealand in 2011 on student visa and granted refugee status
• In 2016, he came to the attention of the police for showing terrorist sympathies
• During probe authorities found his refugee status was fraudulently obtained
• Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said deportation notices  served in April 2019

By James Robinson for MailOnline

Published: 07:07 BST, 4 September 2021 | Updated: 08:06 BST, 5 September 2021

Authorities in New Zealand had for years been trying to deport the Islamic State-inspired terrorist who carried out a frenzied attack in a supermarket, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern revealed last night.

Ahamed Aathil Mohamed Samsudeen, 32, was served a deportation notice in April 2019 after his refugee status - which authorities say was fraudulently obtained - was revoked.

While the legal process dragged on, Samsudeen grabbed a knife off a supermarket shelf in Auckland on Friday and injured seven people, leaving three critically wounded.

Samsudeen, who had been flagged to authorities as having shown support for terror group Islamic State, was shot dead by police who were tailing him. 

Ms Ardern, who described the stabbings as a 'terrorist attack', last night admitted authorities had looked at detaining Samsudeen during the deportation process and that it was 'frustrating' he was allowed to stay free. 

She said she expected a toughening of the country's counter-terrorism legislation would be backed by parliament by the end of September. 

The revelations were made after automatic legal restrictions preventing Samsudeen's name being made public were removed on Saturday.

It was revealed that the Islamist arrived in New Zealand from Sri Lanka as a 22-year-old in 2011 on a student visa and was granted refugee status two years later.

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said measures were already underway to strengthen New Zealand's terrorism suppression laws

Ahamed Aathil Mohamed Samsudeen, 32, was served a deportation notice in April 2019 after his refugee status - which authorities say was fraudulently obtained - was revoked

While the legal process dragged on, Samsudeen grabbed a knife off a supermarket shelf in Auckland on Friday and injured seven people, leaving three critically wounded. Pictured: Police at the scene in Auckland on Friday

Islamic State-inspired New Zealand terror attacker was first placed on terror watchlist in 2016

Ahamed Aathil Mohamed Samsudeen, 32, who was shot dead in a Countdown supermarket on Friday was known to police and politicians for his extremist views, which were largely inspired by terror group, ISIS.

The Sri Lankan arrived in New Zealand in 2011 and was first placed on the terror watchlist in 2016 after authorities were alerted to extremist posts he made on social media. 

Some of the videos he shared online depicted war-related violence, a clear approval of violent extremism and pledging his support for ISIS, New Zealand Herald reported.

He received an official warning from police but continued to post the material, including a comment which read: 'One day I will go back to my country and I will find kiwi scums in my country... and I will show them... what will happen when you mess with S while I'm in their country. If you're tough in your country... we are tougher in our country scums #payback'.

Samsudeen reportedly told a worshiper at a mosque that he hoped to join ISIS in Syria and was detained at Auckland International Airport in 2017 after booking a one-way flight to Singapore.  

He spent a year in custody before pleading guilty to distributing restricted material, earning a supervision order in 2018.

The day after he was released from prison, Samsudeen was arrested by counterterrorism police who followed him as he purchased a hunting knife. 

Internet search history reportedly found he'd researched how to kill 'non-believers'.    

Police hoped to prosecute Samsudeen under the Terrorism Suppression Act 2002, but it was determined that preparing a terrorist attack was not an offence under the legislation, given he had not carried out any attacks.  

He was prosecuted on lesser charges of possessing propaganda in support of ISIS.

During his trial, Samsudeen reportedly told the jury: 'You're worried about one knife, I am telling you I will buy 10 knives. It's about my rights.' 

Samsudeen had reportedly performed internet searches asking about the guidelines of 'lone-wolf mujahideen', knife attacks and prison conditions in New Zealand. Following his release from prison, he was kept under 24/7 surveillance by police, who followed him from his home to the store on Friday.

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.

A police search of his home revealed a large hunting knife and 'material related to ISIS propaganda', court documents said, using another acronym for IS.

Ardern said deportation notices were served in April 2019. But Samsudeen, who described himself as a Tamil Muslim, appealed the deportation.

He 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 that 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 New Zealand's counter-terrorism 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.

The day after the attack, Sri Lankan authorities said they would cooperate with New Zealand's investigation 'in any way necessary', according to foreign ministry spokesman Kohularangan Ratnasingam.

Sri Lankan police sources said criminal investigators had already interviewed the attacker's brother, who lives in the capital Colombo.

Ardern said deportation notices were served in April 2019. But Samsudeen (pictured), who described himself as a Tamil Muslim, appealed the deportation

Police Commissioner Andrew Coster (pictured right) said there had been nothing unusual about Ahamed Aathil Mohamed Samsudeen's actions in the lead up to the attack at an Auckland supermarket on Friday, and he had appeared to be doing normal grocery shopping

'We are collecting information about him as well as anyone else who may have had contacts with him,' a top police official said.

In an interview on Saturday, Samsudeen's mother said her son had been 'brainwashed' by neighbours she said hailed from Syria and Iraq.

'We knew there was a change in him,' she told Hiru TV from her home in Kattankudy, east of Colombo.

Sri Lanka's Muslim Council has condemned the Auckland attack as a 'barbaric act of terrorism'.

'This reminds all of us to come together and be united and fight against terrorism and violent extremism,' council member Mohamed Hisham told the news agency AFP.

Sri Lankan Muslim legislator Mujibur Rahman said his community was saddened by the attack, while lauding Ardern for easing public sentiment.

'Her statement soon after the incident defused the situation and ensured there was no harm to the Sri Lankan community (in New Zealand),' Rahman told AFP.

Ardern insisted no one community should be singled out for the violence.

'It was carried out by an individual, not a faith, not a culture, not an ethnicity,' she said.

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2021-09-05 07:06:04Z
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