NZ mosque shootings: Expat sacked and deported from UAE over insensitive Facebook post

A man in the United Arab Emirates was sacked from his job and deported after he celebrated the New Zealand mosque shootings and lauded the gunmen who killed at least 50 people.

The man was working with Transguard Group. He had posted on Facebook celebrating the mass murder in two mosques in Christchurch on March 15, reports Reuters. The shooting was carried out by Brent Tarrant, an Australian and a white supremacist.

Transguard Group released a statement stating that the employee was removed and that the company has a zero-tolerance policy the misuse of social media.

"Over the weekend, a Transguard employee made inflammatory comments on his personal Facebook account celebrating the deplorable mosque attack in Christchurch, New Zealand," the statement released by the company read.

The company's Managing Director, Greg Ward, said, "We have a zero-tolerance policy for the inappropriate use of social media, and as a result, this individual was immediately terminated and turned over to the authorities to face justice."

The company refused to disclose the name of the employee, his position in the company and his nationality. According to reports, the employee was terminated from the company and was handed over to the authorities according to the company policy and the UAE Cybercrime Law No. 5 of 2012.

According to The Star, the company also did not disclose the comments the employee made. The UAE government have also remained tight-lipped. They condemned the attack and passed their condolences to the bereaved families who lost their loved ones in the attack.

Brent Tarrant, the gunman, opened fire on unsuspecting worshipper on Friday afternoon in Christchurch in New Zealand. The country's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called the shooting as an act of terror and refused to call the gunman by his name since she did not want him to have the fame he wanted.

Reports state that Tarrant had released a manifesto of over 70 pages to the New Zealand government just minutes before the attack. Tarrant then went on LIVE stream the attack on Facebook which was viewed by 200 people before it was removed, reports Washington Post.

Prime Minister Ardern has promised stricter gun laws in the country in the wake of the attack.

"Many New Zealanders would be astounded to know that you can access military-style semi-automatics in the way that you can here. There is a range of things that need to be fixed," Ardern said while talking to the media in Christchurch.

As per a report by News Hub, she said, "I guess if I was to say New Zealand is a blueprint for anything, in some ways, it's a blueprint [for] not what to do. My hope is that going forward we will demonstrate what you can do if your starting point is similar to ours."

The Prime Minister added, "We do have a road to travel, though, and I'll be announcing further details very soon."