The White Supremacist Terrorist Who Killed 51 Muslims In New Zealand Tried To Overturn His Sentence But Failed
The court ruled there had been no miscarriage of justice and that Tarrant's guilty pleas had been entered voluntarily.
The white supremacist terrorist who killed 51 Muslim worshippers during Friday prayers in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019 has tried to overturn his guilty pleas, but failed.
On March 15, 2019, Australian Brenton Tarrant carried out attacks at Al Noor Mosque and the Linwood Islamic Centre, livestreaming the massacre as he killed 51 people and injured dozens more in the deadliest mass shooting in New Zealand’s history.
In March 2020, Tarrant pleaded guilty to 51 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder and one charge of committing a terrorist act.
He was sentenced on Aug. 24, 2020, to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, the harshest sentence ever imposed in New Zealand.
On Monday, Feb. 3, Tarrant appeared by video link before the Court of Appeal in Wellington, asking judges to set aside his guilty pleas, arguing t he was mentally unfit at the time and that his convictions should not stand, according to AP.
Tarrant claimed that strict prison conditions and deteriorating mental health left him unable to make rational or voluntary legal decisions when he pleaded guilty.
During the hearings, his lawyers said he had been allegedly subjected to prolonged isolation and harsh prison conditions inside Auckland Prison.
On Feb. 12, his legal team opened submissions by quoting the late anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela, saying, “No one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails.”
Lawyers said Tarrant experienced psychological harm and “nervous exhaustion” while in prison, adding that his mental health deteriorated before he pleaded guilty in 2020.
The court also heard he was at one point banned from receiving butter after allegedly smearing it over surveillance cameras inside his prison cell.
However, prosecutors opposed the appeal, saying there was no evidence Tarrant had been unfit to plead and that he understood the charges against him.
On April 30, New Zealand’s Court of Appeal rejected Tarrant’s attempt to overturn his convictions, saying his appeal was “utterly devoid of merit,” according to the Guardian.
The court ruled there had been no miscarriage of justice and that his guilty pleas had been entered voluntarily.
Temel Atacocogu, one of the survivors of the attack, told local news that he was “smiling and laughing” when he found out Tarrant’s appeal failed and accused him of “seeking attention”.
“He is wasting people's time and New Zealand taxpayers’ money,” he said.
Kassy Cho
