New Zealand PM Ardern vows never to say Christchurch gunman's name
Christchurch: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern promised on Tuesday that the man responsible for last week's deadly mosque massacres would face "the full force of the law", as she vowed never to utter his name.
"He sought many things from his act of terror, but one was notoriety -- that is why you will never hear me mention his name," Ardern said in an emotional address to a special meeting of parliament, which she opened with the Arabic greeting "as salaam alaikum" -- 'peace be upon you'.
"I implore you: Speak the names of those who were lost rather than the name of the man who took them," she told the gathering in Wellington, four days after the massacre in the southern city of Christchurch.
"He is a terrorist. He is a criminal. He is an extremist. But he will, when I speak, be nameless," she said.
Australian Brenton Tarrant, 28, was captured by police and has been charged with one count of murder, but Ardern assured parliament other charges would follow.
"He will face the full force of the law in New Zealand," she said.
Ardern has promised reforms to New Zealand gun laws which allowed Tarrant to legally purchase the weapons he used in the attack, including semi-automatic rifles.
And she announced a full review of how the Australian -- an avowed white supremacist -- was able to plan and carry out the attacks in New Zealand under the radar of security services.
"The person who committed these acts was not from here. He was not raised here. He did not find his ideology here. But that is not to say that those very same views do not live here," she said.
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Kerala court acquits actor Dileep in 2017 actress assault case, six found guilty
Kochi (PTI): A Kerala court on Monday acquitted Malayalam actor Dileep in a case relating to the sexual assault of a South Indian actress in Kochi in 2017.
The court, however, found six others, including prime accused Sunil N S alias Pulsar Suni, who directly committed the crime, guilty.
Apart from Dileep, the court also acquitted three other persons in the case.
The verdict was pronounced by Ernakulam Principal Sessions Judge Honey M Varghese, who had concluded the hearing in the lengthy trial on November 25.
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The assault on the actress, who has worked in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films, after her car was abducted for two hours, had shaken the conscience of Kerala society.
According to the prosecution, several persons forced their way into the vehicle on the night of February 17, 2017 and later escaped in a busy area.
The ten accused who faced trial are Sunil NS alias Pulsar Suni, Martin Antony, Manikandan B, Vijesh V P, Salim H, Pradeep, Charly Thomas, actor Dileep (real name P Gopalakrishnan), Sanil Kumar alias Mesthri Sanil, and Sharath.
Police arrested the accused soon after the incident and filed the first charge sheet against seven persons in April 2017.
During further investigation, Dileep was arrested on July 10, 2017 after the probe team found that the prime accused, Suni, had allegedly sent a letter to him from jail.
Dileep was granted bail on October 3, 2017.
