Australian white supremacist Brenton Tarrant appeals his guilty plea for the 2019 mosque attacks, arguing his detention conditions rendered him incapable of rational decisions.
WELLINGTON: The Australian white supremacist who murdered 51 people in New Zealand’s 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks launched an appeal on Monday to overturn his conviction.
Brenton Tarrant argues his “torturous and inhumane” detention conditions during his trial made him incapable of making rational decisions when he pleaded guilty. He is currently held in a specialist high-risk unit at Auckland Prison.
Appearing via video link with a shaved head and black glasses, Tarrant told the Court of Appeal he lacked the required mental state to make informed decisions. He claimed he had even considered trying to implicate former US President Donald Trump in the crime.
“What I said at the time is ‘perhaps I could go out and say there was a second shooter on the roof, perhaps I could say it was Donald J Trump’,” Tarrant said, according to RNZ. The court synopsis states he believed his conditions rendered him unable to act rationally.
If the appeal against his conviction fails, the court will also consider an appeal against his sentence. A successful conviction appeal would send the case back to the High Court for a retrial.
Tarrant was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole in August 2020, New Zealand’s toughest ever penalty. He carried out the attacks on two Christchurch mosques on March 15, 2019, armed with semi-automatic weapons.
He livestreamed the 17-minute attack after publishing an online manifesto. His victims were all Muslim and included children, women and the elderly.
The appeal hearing is being held under heavy restrictions, with only counsel, media and court officials allowed in the Wellington courtroom. Families of the victims are watching a delayed video feed from Christchurch.
Aya Al-Umari, whose brother Hussein was killed, told The Press she thought the case was over after sentencing. “Little did you know that you are allowed to do this six years later. I was not prepared to do this,” she said.
Three Court of Appeal judges are presiding and are expected to reserve their decision for a later date. Tarrant’s current lawyers have had their names suppressed by the court.
Following the 2019 attack, Facebook removed 1.5 million videos of the footage within 24 hours. Then-Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern swiftly tightened gun laws and pressured social media companies on extremism.
In 2021, Tarrant’s former lawyer Tony Ellis said his client believed pleading guilty was “the simplest way out” and argued it was done under duress.