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27-08-2020
By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies
WELLINGTON/ CHRISTCHURCH/ MELBOURNE: The New Zealand gunman behind last year’s Christchurch massacre that killed 51 Muslim worshipers was sentenced to life imprisonment. The families of victims had demanded that he remain behind bars “until his last gasp.”
The gunman who killed 51 Muslim worshipers last year in New Zealand’s deadliest shooting attack was sentenced to life imprisonment by a court on Thursday. He is the first person in the country to get a life sentence without parole.
The 29-year-old Australian white supremacist had admitted to 51 charges of murder, 40 of attempted murder, and one charge of terrorism over the 2019 attack outside two mosques in the city of Christchurch. He live-streamed the act on social media and also uploaded a manifesto shortly before the shootings.
The sentencing comes after three days of emotionally charged statements from survivors and the families of the victims in court. The shooter was largely emotionless throughout the proceedings as the victims gave harrowing testimonies of what was New Zealand’s worst terror attack and its impact on their lives.
Tarrant had he sacked his legal team last month intending to represent himself.
He waived his right to speak at the sentencing and instead made a brief statement through a court-appointed lawyer before the sentencing. This eased concerns that he may use the platform to talk about his extremist ideology.
Until ‘his last breath’
The families of the victims had called for the harshest possible punishment for the gunman. New Zealand does not have the death penalty, but some angry survivors called for just that.
Life imprisonment is the most severe punishment in the country. While the Sentencing Act requires a minimum of 10-17 years in prison before the possibility of parole, a judge can sentence a convict to life imprisonment without the 
possibility of release.
“He deserves not a life imprisonment term of 17, 25 or 30 years, but life imprisonment until his last gasp, his last breath,” Hamimah Tuyan, whose husband Zekeriya died of his wounds 48 days after the attack, told the court on Wednesday.
At a press conference ahead of the sentencing, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern praised the victims for showing “strength” in their statements in court and called for continued “empathy and solace” for the Muslim community.
“I am sure every New Zealander who has read them has been devastated to see them having to relive the trauma of that day and hear of the ongoing trauma it has created for them,” Ardern was quoted as saying by The New Zealand Herald.
The Prime Minister is expected to speak on the sentencing later in the day.
