New Zealand mosque shooter files appeal against life sentence

Brenton Tarrant, the gunman who shot and killed worshippers in the Christchurch mosque attacks, listens as Crown prosecutor Mark Zarifeh delivers his submission during Tarrant’s sentencing at the High Court in Christchurch, New Zealand, August 27, 2020. John Kirk-Anderson/Pool via REUTERS

A white supremacist who killed 51 Muslim worshippers at mosques in Christchurch in March 2019, the worst mass shooting in New Zealand’s history, has filed an appeal against his life sentence, a court spokesperson said on Tuesday.

No hearing date has been set at this stage, Chris Abraham, a spokesperson for the Court of Appeal, told Reuters.

Brenton Tarrant was sentenced in 2020 to jail for life without parole for the murder of 51 people and attempted murder of 40 others at two mosques in Christchurch, the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand.

It was the first time a New Zealand court had sentenced a person to prison for the rest of their life.

In November 2021, Tarrant’s then lawyer, Tony Ellis, said Tarrant was considering appealing the verdict, adding his guilty plea was obtained under duress. Ellis in an emailed response on Tuesday told Reuters he does not represent Tarrant anymore.

Tarrant, an Australian national, stormed the mosques armed with military-style semi-automatics, indiscriminately shooting at Muslims gathered for Friday prayers and livestreaming the killings using a head-mounted camera.

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