They also found extremist videos and photos of him posing with a gun. They believed he was trying to get to Syria to join the Islamic State.Īt his apartment, police found a hunting knife with a long blade (Samsudeen said the knife was for protection). In May 2017, police arrested Samsudeen at Auckland Airport with a backpack, a few thousand dollars, and a ticket to Singapore. Samsudeen’s mother said that at one point in New Zealand her son fell from a great height, and that neighbors from Syria and Iran helped him recover but also brainwashed him.Ī roommate told police that Samsudeen wanted to travel to Syria to fight for the Islamic State group and, failing that, wanted to kill somebody with a knife. His brother described him as spending too much time online and suffering from mental health problems. He described stabbing enemies and cutting off their heads.Įxactly what caused Samsudeen’s descent into extremism remains unclear. Diplomat Brief Weekly Newsletter Nīut he soon reopened the account and kept posting. It granted him refugee status, and he later became a permanent resident of New Zealand. The tribunal concluded that while parts of Samsudeen’s story were “superficially unsatisfactory,” it was best to give him the benefit of the doubt. Just $5 a month.Ī psychologist told the tribunal that Samsudeen is a “damaged young man” who’s suffering post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.
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He said that once, several armed men kidnapped him and his father, stripping them, cutting them, burning them with cigarettes, and beating them unconscious.Įnjoying this article? Click here to subscribe for full access. Samsudeen, a Tamil Muslim, told the tribunal in December 2012 that if he were to be sent back home, he would face persecution because of a falling out between his father and a former colonel from the Tamil Tigers insurgent group. Samsudeen appealed, and an immigration tribunal took a fresh look at the case.
In April 2012, immigration officials declined his refugee claim, saying they found inconsistencies and an unreliable medical report. The following month, he withdrew from his studies and made a claim for refugee status.
In October 2011, Ahamed Aathil Samsudeen, then 22, arrived in New Zealand from Sri Lanka on a student visa. Seven weeks later, he grabbed a knife at an Auckland supermarket and began stabbing shoppers, injuring seven in a frenzied attack.Ĭourt records, interviews and agency accounts explain how years of red flags weren’t enough to stop him.
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Yet, in the end, nobody in New Zealand was able to stop an extremist inspired by the Islamic State group from walking free from prison in July. Even the prime minister wanted him deported. They thought he could launch a terror attack at any moment. So, too, did prosecutors, prison officials, and police.