We are devastated by the terrorist attack against our Muslim community in Christchurch and the values we hold. There is an outpouring of grief across New Zealand as we all come to terms with what has happened on one of our darkest days.

At this time the New Zealand government’s first priority is to do everything we can for the victims of this terrorist attack and their families.

Ensuring those injured receive the very best medical care, assisting bereaved families with funeral costs and other financial support, and expediting visas for family members is all part of this; but embracing our Muslim community has also been of the utmost importance.

Led by our Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, thousands of Kiwis have joined their Muslim brothers and sisters in vigils, and visited their mosques to pay respects, lay flowers and give messages of support.

We have responded swiftly and decisively to ensure the safety of our Muslim communities and their places of worship. This is a top priority for the government. The New Zealand Police are guarding all mosques in New Zealand to ensure that Muslim communities feel safe and secure.

The government is determined that New Zealand will remain a safe and open society, which is characterized by religious inclusiveness and freedom.

We condemn the attacker’s actions and are unified against him. A 28-year-old man is in custody in a maximum security prison and has been charged with murder. More charges will follow.

New Zealand does not have the death penalty under its laws. But he will face the full force of New Zealand law.

He is a terrorist. He is a criminal. He is an extremist. Our Prime Minister Ardern will not use his name. He sought notoriety, and we will deny him that. As she has said “speak the names of those who were lost, rather than name of the man who took them”.

In doing this here in Indonesia, we think of the family of Muhammad Abdul Hamid (alias Lilik Abdul Hamid) who lost his life, and of the two Indonesians who were injured in the attack.

The New Zealand government has announced a Royal Commission of Enquiry into how these terrorist attacks were able to occur. This enquiry will examine the focus of the security and intelligence services, the role social media has played and the accessibility of automatic weapons.

The government has already tightened gun laws following this attack, banning all military-style automatic weapons.

Today is a day for remembrance, for embracing those most closely affected by this tragedy. For New Zealanders, a people of 200 ethnicities, 160 languages and adherents of all religions, it is a day to come together in goodwill to reject the message of hate and terror perpetrated on March 15.

We will leave the perpetrator nameless; he doesn’t deserve a name. We will instead remember Haji Daoud al-Nabi, the 71 -year-old man who was one of the founders of the Al Noor Mosque. He was a greeter at the door of the mosque that Friday.

He was brutally murdered after opening the door to the attacker with the words “Hello Brother”.

We must honor his message, a message of love.

And tomorrow we must come together as governments, communities and individuals to do all we can to reject all forms of extremism so that these events are never repeated.

***

The writer is ambassador of New Zealand to Indonesia.

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