Christchurch, April 5 (RHC)-- In New Zealand, police say the man accused of opening fire with an assault rifle at two mosques in Christchurch on March 15 will face 50 murder charges and 39 counts of attempted murder when he appears in court on Friday.

The 28-year-old Australian man is an avowed white supremacist who e-mailed out a racist manifesto minutes before the attacks began.

Meanwhile, Australia’s Senate has formally censured a lawmaker who blamed the killings on immigration policies that allowed Muslims to move to New Zealand.  Far-right Senator Fraser Anning’s comments came on the day of the Christchurch massacre. 

Anning’s Senate colleagues on Wednesday denounced the remarks as “shameful” and “appalling.” This is Australia’s first female Muslim senator, Mehreen Faruqi.  She said: “Sadly, what Senator Anning said after the Christchurch massacre, however shocking it is, it isn’t out of character.  Just a week before I joined this place, he gave a speech calling for a ban on people like me coming to this country and for a white Australia policy.  He even invoked the despicable Final Solution in his speech.”