The Christchurch gunman’s surprise guilty plea makes him the first person convicted of terrorism in New Zealand. A legal expert explains what will happen next in the sentencing process.
Haji-Daoud Nabi was a lifelong friend, who helped inspire my research in Afghanistan on how violent events shape people’s sense of community. I never thought my work would one day apply at home in NZ.
The US, Russia and China haven’t backed the NZ-led Christchurch Call to crackdown on online extremism. Without them, and key non-western media, the initiative is unlikely to make enough difference.
My assessment is that there are about 150 to 300 core right-wing activists in New Zealand. This might sound modest – but proportionate to population, it’s similar to extremist numbers in Germany.
In the wake of last year’s Christchurch mosque attacks, New Zealand’s intelligence agencies must become more transparent in their reporting on the risk of right-wing terrorism.