New Zealand / Canterbury

Guilty plea over mosque attack video possession

16:52 pm on 31 July 2019

A man has pleaded guilty to charges of possession of the video of the Christchurch mosque attacks in the Christchurch District Court today.

The man, who continues to have interim name suppression, pleaded guilty to possession of two objectionable publications, the video of the massacre and the accused gunman's manifesto.

The summary of facts said that between 15 March and 28 March he was sent a copy of the video, saved it and labelled it "main event".

He also downloaded the manifesto and saved a copy on his mobile phone.

When spoken to by police he said he did not agree with government censorship, and said under New Zealand's Bill of Rights Act he had a right to have the material, to review it, and to make his own decision on the content.

The man has been in custody since his arrest four months ago.

He was remanded in custody until tomorrow where he will reappear before the court.

Justice O'Driscoll asked the Crown to provide the court with some information about how many people internationally had watched or were in possession of the video.

He said he didn't want those facing charges over possession of the video to be scapegoats for what happened.

Four other people also appeared in the Christchurch District Court today on charges of possessing the mosque shooting video.

All four continue to have interim name suppression, and were given new dates to reappear later this year.