Survivors and relatives of 51 Muslims killed by Australian Brenton Tarrant, 29, in New Zealand have reacted to the verdict which sentenced him to life imprisonment without parole.
Tarrant had on March 15, 2019 opened fire on two mosques in Christchurch, where he killed 51 worshippers including a 3-year-old boy, and injured 40.
‘Relief and justice’: NZ reacts as mosque shooter jailed for life
The entire incident was streamed on Facebook live via a headcam that Tarrant was wearing.
Abdul Azeez Wahabzadah who fought off Tarrant by throwing a POS machine at him and saved many lives, said he welcomed the sentence of life without parole.
“That is what we were aiming for, and we got it,” he said, describing Tarrant as a “coward” and an “idiot” who had thrown his life away.
Ahmed Wali Khan, told BBC that he lost his uncle in the attacks but the Muslim community in Christchurch welcomed the verdict.
“Everyone was quite happy that justice has been served,” he said, adding that the community had been “waiting for this decision for a very long time”.
An Afghan refugee, Taj Kamran, who survived several shots in the leg and still require walking aids, said the verdict would return those who were lost but he would “be able to sleep”.
“No punishment is going to bring our loved ones back and our sadness will continue for the rest of our lives,” he told the AFP news agency.
Also, Irfan Yunianto, a doctoral student from Indonesia who survived the shootings, said he was relieved that the gunman had finally been sentenced.
“I was at the shooting location. Many of my friends died. I also saw with my own eyes how my friends were trying to save the victims,” he said.
“I accept the court decision with good grace,” he added. “Following this trial has been really hard, but I still watched it online. After the verdict was reached I felt so relieved because the court finally delivered its final verdict.”
Tarrant showed little reaction as Judge Cameron Mander consigned him to spend his remaining days behind bars, with no prospect of parole.
However, the sentence which was delivered on Thursday at the High Court in Christchurch was unprecedented in the history of New Zealand.
Tarrant has become the first prison inmate in the country who will never be eligible for parole.
The country abolished the death penalty for murder in 1961.
