Published 17:39 IST, August 27th 2020
New Zealand PM says mosque shooter deserves lifetime of 'complete and utter silence'
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that the gunman who killed 51 people in two mosques deserves a “lifetime of complete and utter silence.”
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that the gunman who killed 51 people in two mosques deserves a “lifetime of complete and utter silence.” The 29-year-old Australian gunman Brenton Tarrant was sentenced to life in prison on August 27 without the possibility of parole, the maximum available sentence used for the first time in New Zealand.
Ardern acknowledged the strength of the Muslim community who appeared court over the past few days during the four-day hearings and had to relive the horrific events. She said that nothing will take the pain away, hoping that they felt the arms of New Zealand around them through this whole process, and continue to feel that on the days that follow.
“The trauma of March 15 is not easily healed but today I hope is the last where we have any cause to hear or utter the name of the terrorist behind it. His deserves to be a lifetime of complete and utter silence,” New Zealand PM said in a statement.
'Your actions were inhuman'
The white supremacist had pleaded guilty to 51 murders, 40 attempted murders and one charge of committing a terrorist act when he went on a shooting rampage at two mosques in Christchurch and live-streamed it on Facebook. Judge Cameron Mander said that his crimes were so wicked that a lifetime in jail could not begin to atone for them.
“Your actions were inhuman...you deliberately killed a 3-year-old infant as he clung to the leg of his father,” said Mander while pronouncing the sentence.
Barnaby Hawes, the crown prosecutor, told the court that Tarrant planned his attacks for months and chose a time when the maximum number of worshippers would be present. The survivors and families of victims recounted the horror of attacks during the hearing and urged the court to sentence the gunman for life term in prison with no parole. Survivors and grieving relatives the accused and called his crimes horrible, saying he was unworthy of forgiveness.
Updated 17:39 IST, August 27th 2020