New Zealand to review laws after second letter sent from jail by Christchurch mosque attacker Brenton Tarrant emerges
- The Corrections Department said another letter by Tarrant containing objectionable content was among a few not caught by mail vetting staff
- He would now be blocked from sending or receiving mail pending a review, said the chief of Corrections
Corrections said a second letter by mosque shooter Brenton Tarrant containing objectionable content was not caught by mail vetting staff, while a third by Philip Arps – a white supremacist jailed for sharing the mosque shooting video online – also contained messages that should have been withheld, the New Zealand Herald reported.
Both men are held in different prisons, with Tarrant at a maximum-security cell in Auckland, and Arps jailed at Christchurch Men’s Prison.
Christine Stevenson, chief executive of Corrections, said the letter by Arps, addressed to a local news organisation, should not have left prison.
“This is totally unacceptable, it should not have happened, and I apologise for any further distress this has caused,” she said of the second failing by the department.
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Stevenson said she did not have confidence in current processes for reviewing and assessing prisoners’ mail, and had called for an immediate review, the Herald reported.
“The mail of prisoners who have been identified with extremist ideologies and/or registered victims will be immediately centralised pending a full review carried out by an external party (to be determined),” she said.
“It will remain this way until the review has concluded and I am confident the new process in place will prevent this from ever happening again.”
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Local media website Newshub on Thursday said it had received multiple “hate-filled” letters from Arps containing “unhinged ramblings”, threats to harm New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, and praises for Norway’s mass killer Anders Brevik.
Arps, a white supremacist, in 2016 left a pig’s head at a mosque in Christchurch, a region in the South Island where white supremacist groups are known to be active.
Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis said Arp’s letter reflected there clear “deficiencies” in how the department managed mail from high-risk prisoners, the Herald reported.
“The letter is further proof we need to ensure our current laws are fit for purpose. I will discuss the issue with Cabinet on Monday,” he said.
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Prime Minister Ardern, who has vowed never to mention Tarrant by name, was furious the letter had bypassed Corrections’ mail vetting system.
“Corrections themselves have acknowledged the failing here … this individual should not be able to share his hateful message from behind prison doors,” she told reporters in Tuvalu, where she is attending a regional summit.
During the Christchurch gunman’s five months in custody, he had sent seven letters, the Herald reported. Two of the letters went to family, another to an admirer overseas and four to recipients yet to be identified. A further two letters he wrote have been withheld.
Corrections chief Stevenson said following the appearance of Tarrant’s letter on 4chan, the terror accused would be blocked from sending or receiving mail pending a review, the Herald reported.
“This letter should not have been able to be sent, and this prisoner has immediately been prevented from sending or receiving mail until we have absolute assurance that the process in place for screening and assessing his correspondence upholds the safety of the public, both in New Zealand and internationally,” she said.
“The strengthened process which we are going to implement is unprecedented, and demonstrates the seriousness with which we are taking this, and our commitment to ensuring that we get this right.”
Additional reporting by AFP, Reuters
