Wellington (AFP)

The New Zealand Prison Service apologized on Thursday for allowing the author of the mosque killings in Christchurch to send a hateful letter from his prison to a sympathizer who posted it on the internet.

Australian Brenton Tarrant is currently being held in a high security prison in Auckland, where he is awaiting trial for the bloodiest killings in modern archipelago history, the murder of 51 Muslim worshipers on March 15.

While the government wants to do everything possible to prevent this man who claims to be white supremacism from expressing his ideas, the prison administration has revealed that he has been authorized to send mail from his cell.

One of the detainee's letters to a Russian named Alan was posted on the 4Chan website.

Written in childlike capitals, the six-page letter talks about a trip Brenton Tarrant made to Russia, his admiration for the British fascist Oswald Mosley and his belief that "there is a great conflict on the horizon" .

This lack of surveillance of the prison administration has provoked the fury of New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern who, a few days after the attacks, pledged to never pronounce the name of the killer not to contribute to its "notoriety" ".

- Challenge for the penitentiary -

"The prison department itself has recognized the dysfunction ... This individual should not be able to share his hate message from his cell," she said from the small Tuvalu archipelago, where she is at the annual summit Pacific Islands Forum (FIP).

Prison Administration Director Christine Stevenson acknowledged that the letter should never have been released. "I would like to apologize for the pain it caused to those affected by the tragic events of March 15," she said.

Ms. Stevenson stated that Brenton Tarrant's courier service had been suspended while the screening process would be reviewed.

"It's always difficult to find the right balance between meeting our legal obligations and reducing all the potential risks posed by the prisoner," she said.

"However, we are absolutely determined to ensure that he has no opportunity to cause any harm or punishment, whether directly or indirectly."

Prison Services Minister Kelvin Davis said that before being banned from mail, Brenton Tarrant had tried to send nine letters from his cell: two to his mother and seven to "associates", two of which were blocked by the authorities.

Davis acknowledged that managing an inmate like Brenton Tarrant was a challenge for his administration.

"The truth is we never had a prisoner like this before," he told Radio New Zealand. "I asked if our laws were adequate, I asked the penitentiary for advice on what should be changed".

Brenton Tarrant has been charged with 51 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder and one count of terrorism. His trial is scheduled to begin in May 2020.

His case returned Thursday to the High Court in Christchurch for a brief hearing on procedural issues. Mr. Tarrant did not have an obligation to appear via videoconference, as he did in the past.

The case was postponed until 3 October. The court should on that date decide on a possible change of the trial.

© 2019 AFP