AhlulBayt News Agency: Appeal hearings for the white supremacist who murdered 51 worshippers at two mosques in New Zealand in 2019 have caused “immense distress” to victims, a state lawyer said Friday as the proceedings concluded.
Brenton Tarrant, a 35‑year‑old Australian and former gym instructor, admitted responsibility for the country’s deadliest modern‑day mass shooting and was sentenced to life imprisonment in August 2020.
This week, Tarrant argued before the Court of Appeal in Wellington that “torturous and inhumane” prison conditions left him unable to make rational decisions when he entered his guilty plea, according to a court summary.
As the week‑long hearings ended, Crown lawyer Madeleine Laracy urged the court to reject his appeal, saying he had no viable legal defense and conviction was inevitable, RNZ reported.
She appealed to the judges to provide closure for survivors and the wider Muslim community, noting that keeping the case alive continues to cause deep emotional harm.
The three‑judge panel did not issue a ruling on Friday.
Tarrant is held in a high‑security unit for extreme‑risk prisoners at Auckland Prison, where he rarely interacts with others.
On Monday, he testified via video link, claiming he lacked the mental capacity to make an informed plea in 2020.
Laracy countered that Tarrant would have been imprisoned regardless of whether he pleaded guilty or went to trial, saying, “He was between a rock and a rock.”
Tarrant’s lawyers, whose identities are suppressed for security reasons, argued that his detention conditions are unlike any other in the prison system.
If the court upholds his conviction, it must then consider his appeal against the sentence. If overturned, the case will return to the High Court for a retrial.
Armed with semi‑automatic weapons, Tarrant attacked worshippers at two Christchurch mosques on March 15, 2019.
He released an online manifesto before the attack and livestreamed the massacre for 17 minutes.
All his victims were Muslim, including children, women, and elderly worshippers.
His life‑without‑parole sentence remains the harshest penalty ever issued in New Zealand.
Strict restrictions were placed on courtroom attendance during the appeal, with only lawyers, media, and officials allowed inside.
Families and friends of victims were invited to watch the hearings remotely from Christchurch with a one‑hour delay.
/129
Your Comment