Guwahati News Desk: New Zealand on Thursday passed a new security law to criminalise preparing a terror attack.
According to sources, this newly passed law aims at tightening a loophole that was exposed by a man who went on to conduct a mass stabbing in the country’s most populated city.
According to officials, the new law also gives police greater power to conduct warrantless searches, is in line with counterterrorism legislation in Australia and Britain and is less expansive than laws in the United States. But critics have expressed concern about its potential impact on civil liberties.
Moreover, the new law, which is expected to go into effect on Monday, is partly designed to guard against “lone wolf” attacks like the stabbing this month and the 2019 mass shooting in Christchurch, the worst terrorist attack in New Zealand’s history.
Through an emailed statement, New Zealand’s Minister of Justice, Kris Faafoi, said, “The nature of terrorism has changed. Across the world there are more lone actors, rather than larger organised groups.”
As per the sources, the decision of passing the new law came after a lengthy debate that went late into Wednesday night and continued till Thursday morning. In the discussion, the lawmakers from New Zealand’s two main political parties voted in favor of the tougher legislation, while the center-left and libertarian parties opposed it by raising concerns about surveillance overreach.
However, the security law was passed and people are hopeful towards some positive outcomes to arrive.
Regarding the mass stabbing incident, earlier this month, i.e, in September itself, it was carried out by a Sri Lankan national who had recently been released from prison. A 32-year-old man named Aathil Mohamed Samsudeen, stabbed and wounded seven people in a supermarket in Auckland.