The Islamist charged with murdering 15 people in the Dec. 14 shooting spree at a Chanukah party at Sydney’s Bondi Beach has lost a bid to protect the identities of family members, local media reported on Wednesday.
Naveed Akram—who is facing 59 charges over the terrorist attack, which he carried out with his father—argued that his family could be targeted by vigilantes and claimed they already experienced abuse.
Last month, details of Akram’s family were suppressed under an interim court order. However, on Thursday, a Sydney judge lifted the order at the request of several media outlets.
The case has attracted “unprecedented” attention in Australia and worldwide, Judge Hugh Donnelly ruled, noting that information about the family was already widely available online.
“This case has unprecedented public interest, outrage, anger and grief,” the judge stated.
Donnelly said the request for a suppression order lasting 40 years did not meet the exceptional circumstances threshold and would anyways have limited impact, as it would only apply in Australia and not to social media platforms or foreign news outlets.
Akram, 24, appeared in a Sydney court for the first time via video link on Feb 16.
Akram’s father, Sajid Akram, was killed by police during the shooting at Bondi on Dec. 14. The two men attacked the “Chanukah by the Sea” event in Archer Park, which hundreds of people attended and was organized by the Chabad-Lubavitch movement.
Fifteen people were shot dead, and more than three-dozen others were wounded.
Akram’s lawyer, Ben Archbold, said it was premature to say what plea his client would enter.
