Man accused of possessing 'grotesque' images of war crimes

Ahamed Aathill Mohamed Samsudeen appeared in the High Court at Auckland this morning. Photo / Nick Reed

A 28-year-old man has been charged with possessing a series of images which depict extreme violence, cruelty, death and graphic war scenes.

Ahamed Aathill Mohamed Samsudeen appeared in the High Court at Auckland this morning on a total of 23 charges.

Name suppression lapsed for Samsudeen at his last appearance, but other particulars about the case remain suppressed.

He is accused of having two Facebook accounts which contained images of extreme violence, cruelty and death.

It is also alleged he had videos which showed extreme violence, cruelty and death as well as scenes of graphic war footage.

The court heard today that the alleged objectionable material was of atrocities committed against Muslim minorities on the Burma border.

Other videos and images allegedly showed atrocities committed in other parts of the Muslim world, the court heard.

However, Justice Timothy Brewer asked the Crown whether the case was opening up a "big Bill of Rights and freedom of expression" debate.

He questioned the prosecution of a Muslim person, who argued they were concerned about particular atrocities against fellow Muslims, and whether they should be forbidden from disseminating the images or forced to "do it in a nice way".

But the Crown argues that the "imagery is so grotesque" and will proceed with its prosecution of Samsudeen under the Films, Videos and Publications Classification Act.

The prosecution will continue if the Chief Censor of Film and Literature, David Shanks, believes the images to be objectionable.

Samsudeen is further charged with possessing an offensive weapon and using a document for a pecuniary advantage.

Justice Brewer remanded Samsudeen in custody until his trial next July, while there will be another pre-trial callover next week.