New Zealand court upholds conviction of mosque mass shooter in terrorism case

New Zealand Court Upholds Conviction and Sentence for Christchurch Mosque Shooter

A New Zealand court has denied an appeal from Australian white supremacist Brenton Tarrant, who was convicted of shooting dead 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch in 2019. The Court of Appeal ruled on Thursday that Tarrant’s attempt to overturn his guilty plea was “utterly devoid of merit”.

Tarrant, 35, had admitted to carrying out the mass shooting before being sentenced to life in prison without parole in August 2020. He claimed that detention conditions during his trial made him incapable of making rational decisions when he pleaded guilty to multiple charges related to the attack.

The court found that Tarrant’s guilty pleas were voluntary and that he was not coerced or pressured into pleading guilty. The judges also stated that there were inconsistencies in Tarrant’s own evidence, which contradicted assessments from mental health professionals at the time of his plea.

Tarrant had livestreamed his attack for 17 minutes and published an online manifesto targeting children, women, and the elderly. He is serving life in prison without parole for killing Muslim worshippers at the Al Noor mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre in Christchurch on March 15, 2019.

The Court of Appeal’s decision has been welcomed by lawyers representing survivors and families of Tarrant’s victims, who stated that it would spare them from reliving the traumatic events of March 15, 2019.

Source: Al Jazeera