Accused Bondi terror attack shooter Naveed Akram made his first comments in court as his lawyer tempered expectations of speedy pleas on dozens of serious charges.
The 24-year-old appeared via video link at Sydney’s Downing Center Local Court on Monday morning on 59 charges, including murder and terrorist offences.
He is accused of carrying out Australia’s deadliest terror attack on December 14 15 people were killed and 40 injured during beachside Hanukkah celebrations in Bondi.
His father, 50-year-old Sajid Akram, was shot dead by police during the shooting.
The younger man spoke after a magistrate continued suppression orders on Monday to protect victims and survivors of the attack who have not chosen to identify themselves publicly.
“Did you just hear what I just said?” Deputy Chief Magistrate Sharon Freund asked the suspect.
“Yes,” Akram replied.
Legal aid lawyer Ben Archbold later asked for time to speak with his client.
“Mr. Akram, your lawyer will call you next,” the magistrate said.
“Yes,” the accused gunman replied.
Akram was dressed in a green prison-issued sweater, with his hands in his lap as he listened to the otherwise quiet affair.
His hair was freshly shaved, while he continued to sport the full short beard he had during the December 14 mass shooting.
After a phone call with his client, Archbold told reporters outside court that Akram was doing as well as could be expected in Goulburn’s super maximum security prison.
‘Everyone knows that [Goulburn’s] supermax has very harsh conditions, and that is where people who (allegedly) commit these crimes are,” he said.
It was too early to indicate any intention to plead, Archbold said.
During conversations between clients and lawyers on Monday and earlier in jail, the attack or any remorse had not been discussed, while prosecutors had yet to present evidence.
Archbold expected to see the letter at the next court hearing on April 8 and noted the lawsuit could last until 2027.
“When we have the assignment, I will have more to say,” he told reporters.
“He’s just a client, and he’s a client who needs to be represented.
“We don’t let our personal views get in the way of our professional commitments.”
The attack on Bondi Beach
The Akrams are accused of carrying out Australia’s worst mass shooting since 1996, targeting the Jewish festival of lights at Bondi Beach.
After parking near a pedestrian bridge on Campbell Parade, the men allegedly threw three pipe bombs filled with steel ball bearings and a tennis ball bomb into the Hanukkah celebration in Archer Park before opening fire.
But none of the pipe bombs exploded, despite preliminary police analysis showing them to be viable.
A box-like bomb was found in the trunk of their car, while two hand-painted ISIS flags were also found in the vehicle.
Police claim that 55 people were shot during the attack, including 15 fatally, including 10-year-old Matilda, Holocaust survivors and a retired police officer.
A court suppression order gives victim-survivors the ability to choose if and when to make their stories public and join other survivors such as Arsen Ostrovsky and hero tobacconist Ahmed Al Ahmed, who briefly disarmed Akram’s father.
The attack sparked an outpouring of grief and a series of legal changes that tackle gun ownership and extremism, and put a spotlight on rising anti-Semitism in Australia.
Israeli President Issac Herzog also made a controversial four-day visit to Australia in early February to meet and mourn with the local Jewish community.
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