Australian Brenton Tarrant, sentenced to life in prison by a New Zealand court for the 2019 Christchurch terrorist attacks, intends to withdraw his guilty plea and appeal his sentence, RNZ reported.
According to the radio, Tarrant, who killed 51 people during the attacks on two mosques in Christchurch on March 15, 2019, has filed an application for a retrial. During the hearing, which will begin later this week, the 35-year-old is expected to tell the court about the “torture and inhumane conditions in prison“ that left him “incapable of making rational decisions”. Based on this, the Australian will ask the court to overturn his guilty plea, entered in March 2020.
If the three judges of the Court of Appeal decide that Tarrant can withdraw his guilty plea, his case could be sent back to court for a retrial on all charges. If he is not allowed to withdraw his guilty plea, another appeal hearing against the sentence itself will be held later.
Tarrant was sentenced to life in prison without the right to parole on 27 August 2020. The Australian, who pleaded guilty in full, received the heaviest sentence in New Zealand history: the first time a convict has been denied the right to apply for parole for the entire term of his sentence.
On 15 March 2019, attacks were carried out on mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. The attacks killed 51 people and injured another 50, and the attacks were classified as terrorist attacks. The attacker had been live-streaming the mosque attack on social media and had published a “manifesto” with far-right slogans the day before.