The white supremacist who killed 51 people in March 2019 in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, could be sentenced to life imprisonment after the verdict hearing which opens Monday, according to legal experts.
• Read also: Christchurch mosques shooter will face survivors for conviction
Australian Brenton Tarrant could thus be the first person in New Zealand to be sentenced to life without parole, lawyers have said.
The four-day hearing, in which his sentence is to be pronounced, opens Monday in Christchurch High Court.
Judge Cameron Mander will first hear 66 people, including survivors who saw their lives disrupted by the carnage of March 15, 2019. This will be their first confrontation with the author of this killing.
Mr Tarrant, 29, who has decided not to be represented by lawyers at the hearing, will speak before his sentence is handed down.
Equipped with an arsenal of semi-automatic weapons, he opened fire successively in two mosques during Friday prayers, killing 51 people, all Muslims, including women and children.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described the day as “one of New Zealand’s darkest”, in a Pacific nation known for its tranquility.
After having long denied being the author of the largest mass murder in New Zealand’s modern history, the defendant ended up pleading guilty in March.
He was found guilty of the murder of 51 people, 40 attempted murders and an act of terrorism.
Famous Christchurch lawyer Nigel Hampton has said this “terrifying crime requires extraordinary punishment”.
For his part, the professor of law, Chris Gallavin estimated that Mr. Tarrant “would never see the light of day again”.
Judge Mander underlined the importance of the sentencing process for the victims which, for some, is “the best way to bring relief to the Muslim community”.
He imposed exceptional restrictive measures on the media in order to prevent the 29-year-old defendant from attempting to propagandize, he would get no publicity.
The magistrate will indicate in particular to the media, which are not authorized to relate live the contents of the hearings, what they can or not report.
“The court has a duty (…) to ensure that it is not used as a platform … (and) to prevent that it is not used as a means to cause further damage “, did he declare.
The Premier acknowledged that for many this week will be difficult. “I don’t think there is anything I can say to lessen their trauma during this moment,” Ms. Ardern told reporters.
Police will step up patrols around the High Court as people have been mobilized to provide psychological support to witnesses.
These four days of hearing required a large logistical organization, in particular to ensure simultaneous translation into eight languages for members of the Muslim community, from very diverse origins.
This killing led the government to toughen the gun law and step up its efforts to fight extremism on the internet.
The longest sentence handed down in New Zealand to date is life imprisonment with a minimum safety period of 30 years. It was about a man found guilty of the murder of three people in 2001.
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