GEORGE HEARD/STUFF Survivors of the attack on Masjid Al Noor on March 15 could be asked to give evidence to support a terrorism charge against the alleged gunman. It would be less so if the terrorism charge provided the court with harsher sentencing options but the charge does not allow the court to add any years to his sentence if he is found guilty. The terrorism charge against the alleged mosque shooter came as something of a surprise. In other words, if it looked like terrorism and sounded like terrorism, why not use the Suppression of Terrorism Act? "In other words, bringing a terrorism charge is a trade-off: there's a risk of giving the gunman a platform, but also a need to denounce the massacre for what it was – an act of terrorism.

Source: Stuff May 31, 2019 09:00 UTC