The Australian white supremacist who murdered 51 Muslim worshipers at two Christchurch mosques in 2019 has appealed his convictions and life sentence without parole.
Brenton Tarrant pleaded guilty in March 2020 to 51 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder and one count of terrorism. He was the first person in New Zealand under current laws to be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of ever walking free.
New Zealand’s appeals court confirmed to the Guardian on Tuesday that Tarrant had lodged an appeal against both his convictions and sentence. The court will first consider whether the appeal can proceed because it was filed outside the statutory time limit for doing so.
The Australian moved to New Zealand in 2017 with the aim of carrying out a white supremacist attack. He planned the mass shooting for months, scouted mosques, distributed a manifesto expressing his racist views before opening fire and live-streamed part of the assault on Facebook.
He initially said he would plead guilty to the charges he faced, but changed his plea to guilty on all counts a year after the attacks. He did not speak in court during sentencing for his crimes in August 2020.
Tarrant’s attorney has been approached for comment.