42 minutes ago
Helen Livingstone
Alleged Bondi gunman seeks order to suppress family's identity
Naveed Akram is seeking to prevent media publishing details about his mother, sister and brother.
BBC News - Asia
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Naveed Akram is seeking to prevent media publishing details about his mother, sister and brother.
42 minutes ago
Helen Livingstone
Getty
Alleged Bondi Beach gunman Naveed Akram has sought a court order to prevent media from publishing details of his immediate family over concerns about their safety.
The 24-year-old, who faces 59 charges including 15 counts of murder over the 14 December attack on a Jewish festival, did not appear in person at Monday's hearing.
His lawyer applied to the court in Sydney on his behalf for a non-publication order on the names, addresses and places of work and school for his mother, brother and sister.
Magistrate Greg Grogin granted a temporary order, citing global interest in the case - but noted that the name of Akram's mother had already been widely published.
"Hasn't the horse already bolted on that?" he asked.
A lawyer for News Corp Australia - which owns Sky News Australia and numerous prominent newspapers - present at the hearing at the Downing Centre Local Court said the company would likely challenge the order. The matter is due to return to court briefly next week.
Akram's mother spoke to media in the aftermath of the shooting to defend her son.
His father, Sajid Akram, was shot and killed in a shootout with police at the scene of the attack.
Naveed Akram, who was critically injured, has yet to enter a plea. He said only one word when he appeared in court for the first time last month, answering "yeah" when asked if he had heard a discussion about an extension of different suppression orders.
Prosecutors have alleged that the two gunmen, inspired by Islamic State, acted alone and were not part of a wider cell. The attack was Australia's worst mass shooting since the 1996 Port Arthur attack.
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