More Bondi massacre survivors seek anonymity

The number of survivors of the Bondi Beach massacre will rise further and they will seek to protect their identities, joining victims whose anonymity was previously granted by the court.

In December, a court suppression order gave survivors of the mass shooting the ability to choose whether to speak publicly to the media about the tragedy.

This ban on publishing victims’ names or identities without prior consent was extended in Sydney’s Downing Center Local Court on Wednesday.

The attorney general said more people will apply to add their names to the speech ban at the hearing on May 6.

15 people, including a 10-year-old girl, died when Naveed Akram and his 50-year-old father Sajid Akram opened fire during Hanukkah celebrations at Bondi Beach on December 14.

The elder Akram was shot dead by police, while his son was arrested, beaten on a battery of charges and put behind bars in Goulburn’s supermax prison.

Akram did not appear in court on Wednesday.

The 24-year-old’s case will return to court on June 10 to give police more time to compile a comprehensive summary of evidence.

Last Thursday, she failed to obtain a separate court-imposed gag order preventing the names and addresses of her mother and siblings from being published.

The court heard his family were subjected to death threats, harassment and intimidation in the months after his arrest.

Akram has not yet been asked to plead guilty to dozens of charges, including terrorism offences, 15 murders and 40 attempted murders.

The father and son’s alleged terror attack was the deadliest mass shooting in Australia since the Port Arthur massacre in 1996.

The men allegedly threw three pipe bombs filled with steel balls and a tennis ball bomb into Hannukah celebrations in Archer Park before opening fire.

None of the bombs exploded.

While it was claimed that a box-like bomb was found in the trunk of the car, there were also two hand-painted ISIS flags in the vehicle.