By Alasdair Pal
SYDNEY, March 17 (Reuters) – The family of a man accused of killing 15 people at a Jewish festival on Sydney’s Bondi Beach last year fear for their safety after a spate of alleged vigilante attacks, a court heard on Tuesday.
Naveed Akram, 24, is accused of opening fire on a Hanukkah celebration on December 14 in Australia’s worst mass shooting in decades.
Akram is seeking a gag order preventing the publication of the names or photos of his mother, brother and sister, as well as their home address and places of work and schooling, due to fears for their safety, his barrister Richard Wilson told a Sydney court.
Akram is charged with “the most serious and the most notorious terrorist attack this country has ever seen”, Wilson said, putting his family at risk from attacks from “misguided and angry” members of the public.
The family has received death threats on several occasions in person and via phone and text message, while their home in the western Sydney suburb of Bonnyrigg had been targeted by “vigilantes”, Wilson said.
“They have had the intended effect of causing fear,” he said, telling the court the family thought they were at risk of physical harm.
Appearing via video link from the maximum-security jail where he is being held, Akram spoke only to confirm he could hear proceedings.
Dressed in a prison uniform with his hair closely cropped, he remained impassive throughout the hearing, keeping his head down for much of the time.
He is yet to enter a plea.
“He’s doing good, he’s doing OK,” Akram’s solicitor Leonie Gittani told reporters outside the court.
PRINCIPLE OF OPEN JUSTICE
The proposed gag order is being challenged by several Australian media groups on public-interest grounds. Appearing on their behalf, barrister Matthew Lewis said on Tuesday protecting the principle of open justice in the case would have a “therapeutic effect” for the country.
The identities of Akram’s family and their home address were already widely known, while his mother gave an interview to a local newspaper shortly after the attack, he added.
Magistrate Hugh Donnelly reserved judgement until April 2.
Akram faces a total of 59 charges over the attack, including 15 counts of murder, 40 counts of wounding with intent to murder and a terror offence.
His father, Sajid Akram, who police also accuse of carrying out the shooting, was shot dead by police at the scene.
Police say the men were inspired by the Islamic State militant group to carry out the attack using several high-powered weapons the elder Akram had legally acquired.
“The outpouring of public grief, public outrage, and public anger at what he and his father allegedly did are unprecedented, extraordinary and absolutely understandable,” Wilson said.
The attack stunned a nation known for its strict gun laws, prompting renewed calls for tighter controls and more decisive action to combat antisemitism.
Australia has launched a government-backed inquiry into antisemitism and social cohesion, with findings due by December. The government has already strengthened gun laws and introduced new hate speech legislation.
(Reporting by Alasdair Pal in Sydney; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
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