WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) – The man who butchered 51 Muslim worshipers during the deadliest mass shooting in New Zealand history is appealing his conviction and sentence.
New Zealand’s Court of Appeal confirmed Tuesday that gunman Brenton Tarrant lodged an appeal last week. A trial date has not yet been set, the court said.
Tarrant, a white supremacist, shot and killed worshipers at two Christchurch mosques during Friday prayers in March 2019. He left dozens of others with serious injuries in the attack, which he livestreamed on Facebook.
The following year, Tarrant pleaded guilty to 51 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder, and one count of terrorism. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of parole, the highest possible sentence in New Zealand.
The details of his appeal were not immediately made available by the court.
But in earlier court documents, Tarrant, 32, claimed he was subjected to “inhuman or degrading treatment” while being held in solitary confinement for months following the shooting, preventing a fair trial. He said he only pleaded guilty under duress.
Tarrant fired one of his attorneys in 2021, and it wasn’t immediately clear if another attorney was representing him in his appeal or if he was representing himself.
Temel Atacocugu, who survived after being shot nine times during the Al Noor Mosque attack, told Stuff news agency that the gunman was playing games and seeking attention by filing an appeal.
“I’d like to tell him, ‘Grow up, be a man, and die quietly in prison because that’s what you deserve,'” Atacocugu said.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she had long ago pledged not to publicly name the terrorist.
“His story should not be told and his name should not be repeated, and I will use the same rule to comment on his attempts to re-victimize people,” Ardern said. “We shouldn’t give him anything.”
The attacks prompted New Zealand to quickly pass new legislation banning the deadliest types of semi-automatic weapons. In a subsequent buyback program, gun owners turned over more than 50,000 guns to the police. The attacks also prompted global shifts in social media as tech companies sought to prevent or quickly stop the live streaming of future attacks.