A self-proclaimed white supremacist who killed 51 Muslim worshippers at two Christchurch mosques in March 2019 has filed an appeal against his conviction and whole-life sentence.
No date for the hearing has been set, a spokesperson for the Court of Appeal in the capital Wellington told multiple media outlets in New Zealand.
Brenton Tarrant, then 29, was sentenced in August 2020 to jail for life without parole for the murder of 51 people and the attempted murder of 40 others at two Christchurch mosques, the worst mass shooting in New Zealand’s history.
It was the first time a New Zealand court had sentenced someone to prison for the rest of their life.
Judge Cameron Mander said he was imposing the toughest possible term given the magnitude of the crime.
In November 2021, Tarrant’s then-lawyer, Tony Ellis, said that the gunman was considering an appeal against the verdict, claiming his guilty plea had been obtained under duress and that he had been subjected to “inhuman and degrading treatment” while being held on remand. In an emailed response on Tuesday, Ellis told the Reuters news agency he no longer represented Tarrant.
Asked about the gunman’s appeal application, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern repeated her promise, made shortly after the attacks, not to speak his name.
“His is a story that should not be told and his is a name that should not be repeated and I am going to apply the same rule in commenting on his attempt to re-victimise people,” Ardern said.
“We should give him nothing,” she said. (Al Jazeera)
