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New
Zealand
holds
first
funerals
for
mosque
shooting
victims
By
NICK
PERRY,
JULIET
WILLIAMS
and
KRISTEN
GELINEAU
APNews.com
CHRISTCHURCH,
New
Zealand
- A
father
and son
who fled
the
civil
war in
Syria
for “the
safest
country
in the
world”
were
buried
before
hundreds
of
mourners
Wednesday,
the
first
funerals
for
victims
of
shootings
at two
mosques
in New
Zealand
that
horrified
a nation
known
for
being
welcoming
and
diverse.
The
funerals
of
Khalid
Mustafa,
44, and
Hamza
Mustafa,
15, came
five
days
after a
white
supremacist
methodically
gunned
down 50
worshippers
at two
mosques
in
Christchurch
— a
massacre
that he
broadcast
live on
Facebook.
Hamza’s
high
school
principal
described
the
student
as
compassionate
and
hardworking,
and said
he was
an
excellent
horse
rider
who
aspired
to be a
veterinarian.
Those
present
included
Hamza’s
younger
brother,
13-year-old
Zaed,
who was
wounded
in an
arm and
a leg
during
the
attack.
The boy
tried to
stand
during
the
ceremony
but had
to sit
back in
his
wheelchair,
one
mourner
said.
“We
tried to
not
shake
his
hand,
and not
touch
his hand
or his
foot,
but he
refused,
he
wanted
to shake
everybody’s
hand, he
wanted
to show
everyone
that he
appreciated
them.
And
that’s
amazing,”
said
Jamil
El-Biza,
who
traveled
from
Australia
to
attend
the
funeral.
The
Mustafas
had
moved to
New
Zealand
last
year,
after
spending
six
years as
refugees
in
Jordan.
Mustafa’s
wife,
Salwa,
told
Radio
New
Zealand
that
when the
family
asked
about
New
Zealand
they
were
told
“it’s
the
safest
country
in the
world,
the most
wonderful
country
you can
go ...
you will
start a
very
wonderful
life
there.”
She
added,
“But it
wasn’t.”
Prime
Minister
Jacinda
Ardern
said the
family
should
have
been
safe.
“I
cannot
tell you
how
gutting
it is to
know
that a
family
came
here for
safety
and for
refuge,”
she
said.
Families
of those
killed
had been
anxiously
awaiting
word on
when
they
could
bury
their
loved
ones.
Police
Commissioner
Mike
Bush
said
police
have now
formally
identified
and
released
the
remains
of 21 of
those
killed.
Islamic
tradition
calls
for
bodies
to be
cleansed
and
buried
as soon
as
possible.
Four
other
burials
were
under
way on
Wednesday
evening.
Those
victims
include
Junaid
Ismail,
Ashraf
Ali and
Lilik
Abdul
Hamid.
The
fourth
victim’s
name was
suppressed
by court
order.
The
burials
began
soon
after
Ardern
renewed
her call
for
people
to speak
of the
victims
rather
than the
man who
killed
them.
Also
on
Wednesday,
a man
accused
of
sharing
video
footage
of
Friday’s
massacre
was
jailed
by a
judge
until
his next
court
appearance
in
mid-April.
And Bush
said he
believes
police
officers
stopped
the
gunman
on his
way to a
third
attack.
Ardern’s
plea
against
giving
the
accused
gunman
notoriety
followed
his move
to
represent
himself
in
court,
raising
concerns
he would
attempt
to use
the
trial as
a
platform
for
airing
his
racist
views.
During a
visit
Wednesday
to the
high
school
Hamza
and
another
victim
attended,
Ardern
revisited
that
thought
and
asked
students
not to
say the
attacker’s
name or
dwell on
him.
“Look
after
one
another,
but also
let New
Zealand
be a
place
where
there is
no
tolerance
for
racism,”
she told
students
at
Cashmere
High
School.
“That’s
something
we can
all do.”
Another
Cashmere
student,
14-year-old
Sayyad
Milne,
also
died in
the
attack.
About 30
people
wounded
in the
attacks
remained
hospitalized
as of
Tuesday
evening.
Around
10 of
them
were in
critical
condition,
including
a
4-year-old
girl.
Brenton
Harrison
Tarrant,
a
28-year-old
Australian
man, has
been
charged
with
murder
and is
next
scheduled
to
appear
in court
on April
5.
Police
have
said
they are
certain
Tarrant
was the
only
gunman
but are
still
investigating
whether
he had
support
from
others.
Ardern
previously
has said
reforms
of New
Zealand’s
gun laws
would be
announced
next
week and
she said
an
inquiry
would be
convened
to look
into the
intelligence
and
security
services’
failures
to
detect
the risk
from the
attacker
or his
plans.
New
Zealand’s
international
spy
agency,
the
Government
Communications
Security
Bureau,
confirmed
it had
not
received
any
relevant
information
or
intelligence
before
the
shootings.
Philip
Arps,
44,
appeared
in a
Christchurch
court
Wednesday
on two
charges
of
distributing
the
killer’s
livestream
video of
the
attack
on the
Al Noor
mosque,
the
first
mosque
that was
attacked,
a
violation
of the
country’s
objectionable
publications
law.
Each
charge
carries
a
maximum
sentence
of 14
years in
prison.
Arps,
heavily
tattooed
and
dressed
in a
T-shirt
and
sweatpants,
hasn’t
entered
a plea.
He
remained
expressionless
during
the
hearing,
his
hands
clasped
behind
his
back.
Judge
Stephen
O’Driscoll
denied
him
bail.
Charging
documents
accuse
Arps of
distributing
the
video on
Saturday,
one day
after
the
massacre.
Most
details
of bail
hearings
are
suppressed
under
New
Zealand
law. The
judge
made an
additional
suppression
order
regarding
the
police
summary
of facts
in the
case,
limiting
reporting
of the
accusations
to the
charges
themselves.
Bush,
the
police
commissioner,
said
they
believe
they
know
where
the
gunman
was
going
for a
third
attack
when
officers
rammed
his car
off the
road but
won’t
say more
because
it’s an
active
investigation.
In a
74-page
manifesto
he
released
before
the
attack,
Tarrant
said he
was
going to
attack
two
mosques
in
Christchurch
and then
one in
the town
of
Ashburton
if he
made it
that
far.
Bush
also
revised
his
timeline,
saying
officers
rammed
the
suspect’s
car 21
minutes
after
the
first
emergency
call,
rather
than 36
minutes.
Bush
said FBI
agents
have
traveled
to New
Zealand
to help
with the
investigation.
Abizar
Valibhai,
of
Christchurch,
said
Wednesday’s
burials
marked
an
important
moment.
“It’s
not only
for the
Muslim
community,
but for
the
whole of
New
Zealand,
and the
world as
well,”
he said.
“If we
don’t
show our
support
at this
time,
when are
we going
to show
it?”
He
said
there
would be
many
waves of
emotions
to come
for the
families
of the
victims.
“They
are
fathers,
they are
mothers,
they are
brothers,
they are
sisters,
they are
wives,”
he said.
“There
are a
lot of
things
that
will be
shattered.”
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