Around 21 hours after the attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, where at least 49 people died, New Zealand wants to draw first conclusions: "Our gun laws are going to change," said Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. The suspect acquired a firearm certificate in November 2017. He had been found five firearms, including two semi-automatic, which he could legally acquire.
At the time of Friday prayers, a man in the Al-Nur Mosque of Christchurch had shot himself with a rapid-fire weapon. He filmed his act with a helmet camera and transferred the pictures to the internet. The police counted 41 bodies at the scene. Some time later, other people were shot dead in another mosque in the city. The suspected main culprit and two other suspects were arrested. The perpetrator is said to have announced the attack in a "manifesto" on the Internet. (Read here everything we know about the case)
photo gallery
13 pictures
Terror in Christchurch: attack on two mosquesAt his first court hearing, the Australian was officially charged with the murder. More allegations would follow, the New Zealand police said. On April 5, he is to appear again in court. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison had described the attacker as a "right-wing extremist violent terrorist."
In the attack, 42 people were sometimes seriously injured. Two injured were still in critical condition on Saturday morning (local time), including a four-year-old child.
Does the suspect relate to the Balkans?
The police stepped up measures to protect Muslim events and called citizens via Twitter to immediately report suspects. "There is no guarantee that the danger is limited to Canterbury, and all New Zealanders must be particularly vigilant," it said.
Meanwhile, it has become known that the Bulgarian intelligence service is investigating possible allegations of the alleged assassin in the Balkans. For the alleged video of the crime, whose dissemination the police want to stop, points to weapons of the attacker names of battles in Europe against the Arabs or the Ottomans, including several in the Balkans. According to Bulgarian Attorney General Sotir Zazarov, the Australian also visited historical sites in Bulgaria in November 2018.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL)
The man flew from Dubai to Bulgaria in the autumn of 2018 and also traveled to Romania and Hungary, Zazarov said. Already in December 2016 he traveled to Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia. The Bulgarian intelligence services cooperated in this case with the services of the states concerned.
About 50,000 Muslims live in New Zealand, mostly immigrants from countries such as Pakistan or Bangladesh. In addition to New Zealanders, people from Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Malaysia were killed in the attack, Prime Minister Ardern said. Thus, the cricket team of Bangladesh has apparently just barely escaped the attack.
In the video: How a German in Christchurch experiences the mood in the city
MIRROR ONLINE
The act triggered horror worldwide. Chancellor Angela Merkel said the attack was directed against Muslims and thus also an attack on New Zealand democracy. The UN Security Council condemned the "vile, cowardly" attack.
Trump does not consider racist nationalism to be a growing threat
US President Donald Trump assured Ardern in a phone call of any US aid. At the same time, he made it clear that he sees no growing danger from racist white nationalism. "I think that's a small group of people," Trump said, pointing to the extremists. Asked whether white nationalism is a growing problem in the world, he replied that he really did not believe that.
In the "Manifesto" attributed to the alleged assassin, the latter had praised the president: Trump was "the symbol of a renewed white identity." Trump said in Washington that he had "not seen" the paper.