Alleged Bondi Beach gunman charged with 59 offences, including terror

Police in Australia said on Wednesday they had charged Naveed Akram, who allegedly opened fire on a Jewish event on Sydney's Bondi Beach, with 59 offences, including a terror charge.

"Police will allege in court the man engaged in conduct that caused death, serious injury and endangered life to advance a religious cause and cause fear in the community," New South Wales state police said.

"Early indications point to a terrorist attack inspired by ISIS, a listed terrorist organisation in Australia," they said in a statement, using another name for the Islamic State group.

Read more‘Low-cost’ terror: Bondi Beach investigators examine IS group link, Philippines trip

Authorities say Naveed Akram and his father Sajid Akram opened fire on a Jewish festival at Sydney's famed Bondi Beach on Sunday evening, killing 15 people and wounding dozens more.

Among the victims were a 10-year-old girl, two Holocaust survivors and a married couple shot dead as they tried to thwart the attack.

Naveed Akram was critically wounded by police during the shooting, and local media reported he woke from a coma on Tuesday night. Sajid Akram was killed in a shootout with police.

Police said Naveed Akram had also been charged with 40 counts of causing grievous bodily harm to a person with intent to murder, as well as public display of the symbol of a prohibited terrorist organisation.

Two homemade Islamic State group flags were found in a car registered to Naveed and parked near the beach.

Naveed Akram remains in hospital and will face court by audiovisual link on Wednesday, police said. 

Funerals for Jewish victims begin 

A funeral for Rabbi Eli Schlanger, an assistant rabbi at Chabad Bondi Synagogue and a father of five, was held on Wednesday.

He was known for his work for Sydney’s Jewish community through Chabad, a global organisation fostering Jewish identity and connection.

Schlanger would travel to prisons and meet with Jewish people living in Sydney's public housing communities, Jewish leader Alex Ryvchin said on Monday.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is facing criticism that his centre-left government did not do enough to prevent the spread of antisemitism in Australia during the two-year Israel-Gaza war.

"We will work with the Jewish community, we want to stamp out and eradicate antisemitism from our society," Albanese told reporters.

The government and intelligence services are also under pressure to explain why Sajid Akram was allowed to legally acquire the high-powered rifles and shotguns used in the attack. The government has already promised sweeping reforms to gun laws.

Naveed Akram, meanwhile, was briefly investigated by Australia's domestic intelligence agency in 2019 over alleged links to the Islamic State group, but there was no evidence at the time he posed a threat, Albanese said.

(FRANCE 24 with Reuters, AFP)