New Zealand mosque shooter files appeal against life sentence

ANKARA (AA) – White supremacist Brenton Tarrant, who killed 51 people in a terrorist attack at a mosque in New Zealand in 2019, has filed an appeal against his life sentence, local media reported on Tuesday.

A court spokesman confirmed the appeal was filed on Nov. 3 and said no date has been set for hearing, Radio New Zealand reported.

Brenton Tarrant, an Australian white supremacist, killed 51 people and injured 40 more at the Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre on March 15, 2019.

He was sentenced to life in prison in 2020 without the possibility of parole, in the first such ruling ever handed down in the island country.

Reacting to the latest move, Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand Chairperson Abdur Razzaq called it an act to re-traumatize the victims and nation.

“This is part of a template used by the hatemongers, these right-wing terrorists, to actually not just gain notoriety for themselves but actually, re-traumatize not only their victims but also the nation as a whole,” the state-run media outlet quoted Razzaq as saying.

“You know, they have an agenda, and the agenda is to make hate normal,” he added.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, responding to a question by reporters, said she gave him nothing.

“That’s because his is a story that should not be told, his is a name that should not be repeated, and I’m going to apply that same rule in commenting on his attempts to revictimize people. We should give him nothing,” Ardern said.

However, Justice Minister Kiri Allan said she was focused on victims affected by his actions, not on terrorists.

“I’m thinking about the victims of the crime of a terrorist – somebody that pleaded guilty to terrorism – and I don’t have too much more to add, to be quite frank,” RNZ quoted Allan as saying.