Accused New Zealand gunman's letter from jail circulates online
New Zealand Gunman
The gunmanaccusedof killing 51 people inNewZealandhas handwritten aletterfromjailexpressing his political and social views, prompting Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to say that should never have been allowed, media said on Wednesday.
TheNewZealandHerald had an image of the six-pageletterand envelopefromthe alleged mosque shooter, Brenton Tarrant, sentfromAuckland Prison, which was postedonlineon the controversial imageboard 4chan.
It was said to have been in response to alettersent to him by a person named Alan who is said to live in Russia.
"I think everyNewZealander would have an expectation that this individual should not be able to share his hateful messagefrombehind bars," Ardern was quoted telling reporters in Tuvalu, where she is attending the Pacific Islands Forum.
"Obviously, this is an offender who has a very specific goal in mind, in terms of sharing his propaganda, so we should have been prepared for that."
Prisoners are allowed to send and receive mail and prison directors can only withhold it in certain circumstances.
"We have made changes to the management of this prisoner's mail to ensure that our robust processes are as effective as we need them to be,"NewZealand's Department of Corrections said in a statement quoted in the paper.
Thelettermentioned a visit by Tarrant to Russia four years ago, media said.
NewZealandsiteNewshub said the last two lines of thelettercould be read as a call to arms but blanked out what it said.
Tarrant, an Australian, pleaded not guilty to 92 charges stemmingfromthe massacre at two mosques in Christchurch on March 15. He faces trial in May 2020.