NZ Shooter Brenton Tarrant Reportedly to Appeal Convictions As Guilty Pleas Obtained by ‘Duress’
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Brenton Tarrant, the gunman behind the back-to-back mass shootings at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019 which left 51 dead and at least 50 injured, received a life sentence without parole from the High Court of Christchurch on 27 August 2020.
The mass shooter who killed 51 and injured at least 50 people at two New Zealand mosques in 2019 is expected to appeal his convictions, according to Stuff.co.nz. Brenton Tarrant, who had live-streamed the carnage he unleashed at Al Noor Mosque and at the Linwood Islamic Centre in Christchurch on Facebook says he pleaded guilty last year because of the inhumane and degrading treatment he experienced while awaiting trial.
Pakistani traders burn pictures of Brenton Harrison Tarrant, one of the suspects in Christchurch mosques shooting during a demonstration to condemn mosque attack, in Peshawar, Pakistan, Saturday, March 16, 2019
© AP Photo / Mohammad Sajjad
After the gunman provided his lawyer, Tony Ellis, with a description of his alleged mistreatment while in custody, Ellis made the claim on his behalf in a memo to Chief Coroner Judge Deborah Marshall ahead of the Coronial Inquiry into the mass shooting, reported the outlet. According to the lawyer, this could signify a breach of the Bill of Rights.
"He sent me about 15 pages of narrative of how he had been treated since he'd been in prison. He said because of how he was treated while he was awaiting trial and afterwards, [that affected] his will to carry on and he decided that the simplest way out was to plead guilty. By this, he means he was subject to inhuman or degrading treatment whilst on remand, which prevented a fair trial," Ellis is cited as saying.
The lawyer’s memo is also reported to have underscored that Tarrant was denied access to counsel, information and to documentation which would impact his ability to participate in the Coronial Inquiry.
"As he is held in virtually 24-hour solitary confinement in the Persons of Exceptional Risk Unit, there are issues arising as to his receiving information, and he has only limited access to daily news," stated Tony Ellis, who only recently become the inmate’s lawyer.
The shooter had ostensibly been sent two copies of the Royal Commission which were withheld from him by the department. Furthermore, the Chief Coroner's failure to use the attacker's name in the Coroner's minute relating to the inquiry, only referring to him as "The Individual" was slammed by the lawyer as a "serious breach of human rights" and behaviour that is “deeply offensive, and unlawful". "It is very important that Mr. Tarrant is not dehumanised, especially by judicial officers," said Ellis.
According to the report, the lawyer had advised his client to appeal his sentence of life without the possibility of parole, because it is a "sentence of no hope".
Christchurch Shooter
Brenton Tarrant, the gunman behind two back-to-back mass shootings, at the Al Noor Mosque and at the Linwood Islamic Centre, in March 2019, in New Zealand's Christchurch, received a life sentence without parole from the High Court of Christchurch on 27 August 2020.
A police officer stands in a park near the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, Sunday, March 15, 2020
© AP Photo / Mark Baker
New Zealand police had charged Tarrant with terrorism in addition to existing murder charges. The perpetrator had written what he described as a "manifesto" with anti-Muslim statements prior to committing the attack, which he live-streamed via Facebook. The video of the ensuing carnage was subsequently widely posted on other online platforms.
