00:0224-year-old Naveed Akram faces nearly 60 criminal charges over the attack at Bondi Beach on December 14 which
00:09unfolded during a Jewish event.
00:11Now those charges include 15 counts of murder, dozens of charges of attempted murder and one count of committing a
00:17terrorist act.
00:18The 24-year-old is yet to enter a plea to those charges but today in the Downing Centre local
00:24court through his lawyers
00:25he sought a suppression order over the identities of his mother, his brother and his sister.
00:31His barrister, senior public defender Richard Wilson SC said the relatives have nothing to do with the criminal proceedings
00:38and he said the risk of vigilantes seeking vengeance or retribution against Akram's immediate family
00:44is something that could be addressed through something like a suppression order.
00:49Mr Wilson told the court that that risk of vigilantism has already manifested through
00:54a series of incidents which basically began to unfold in the weeks after the Bondi shooting.
01:00The court was told the family has endured anonymous death threats over the phone
01:04and in messages to Mr Akram's mother and brother.
01:07There have been items including pork chops thrown into their driveway at their home
01:12and there have been people going to their house and knocking loudly on their door late at night.
01:17The court was told these incidents have been reported to police
01:20but by the time officers show up there's not a lot that can be done.
01:24In an affidavit to the court, Levita Akram's mother said
01:28we live in constant fear that in any moment someone may harm us or set our house on fire.
01:34She said I fear for my life and the lives of my children.
01:38Now a barrister representing media outlets including the ABC, Matt Lewis SC,
01:43opposed the making of this suppression order.
01:46He said this information is already in the public domain
01:49and the court might understandably have a level of sympathy for Navid Akram's immediate family.
01:55He said he wasn't submitting otherwise but he also told the magistrate
01:58unfortunately they are but three further people who have been greatly impacted by the attack at Bondi Beach.
02:05Magistrate Hugh Donnelly will now take some time to consider all of these submissions
02:09and come back on April the 2nd to give a final decision.
02:13the act of an action.
02:14The court is established to be in the public domain.
02:15So we can find a lot of clarity, as it seems to be to be maintained in the public domain.
Comments