'I can't forgive you', victim of New Zealand mosque shooting tells Brenton Tarrant at sentencing hearing

The white supremicist who gunned down Muslims at two Christchurch mosques last year could become the first person sentenced by a New Zealand court to life imprisonment without parole.

Sentencing for Brenton Tarrant began on Monday, at the Christchurch High Court where the Australian, 29, pleaded guilty to 51 charges of murder, 40 charges of attempted murder, and one charge of terrorism. The minimum sentence for murder is life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 10 years.

He stormed Christchurch’s Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre armed with semi-automatic rifles on 15 March last year, broadcasting his shooting sprees live on social media. Prior to the attacks, Tarrant circulated a now-banned manifesto outlining his motivation: to spark fear in non-European migrant communities.

Before the hearings began, 48-year-old Taj Mohammed Kamran paced the sidewalk outside court aided by crutches. His right buttock carried shrapnel from the massacre at Al Noor Mosque, where a bullet hit him and another killed his best friend.

A refugee wearing traditional Afghani robes, Mohammed said he felt proud to be a New Zealand citizen able to see justice served to the man who shot him. He said he didn’t get that opportunity when his siblings were killed by a bomb in Afghanistan.

Kamran faced Brenton Tarrant in person on Monday morning. He was one of 66 survivors and relatives of the dead scheduled to read victim impact statements in hearings set to continue over four days. Dozens travelled from overseas for the chance to confront Tarrant, spending two weeks in quarantine facilities prior to the sentencing due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Tarrant, who is representing himself, will have the opportunity to speak at court. He was pale and shackled on Monday, silently gazing around the courtroom. Restrictions on media are in place to stop him spreading messages of hate.

Anxiety around Tarrant’s behaviour in court ran high in the Muslim community during the lead up to sentencing, said spokesperson for the Islamic Women’s Council Anjum Rahman.

“We know that there are sectors of people around the world who have been motivated by this killer. This will be another point for them to focus on.”

She said preparing victim impact statements had also caused many survivors to relive the horrors of the shooting.

On Monday, survivors described to court the gruesome images of bullet-ridden friends and sounds of machine gun fire that continue to haunt them. They spoke of ongoing pain, psychological trauma, and financial uncertainty. Relatives of the slain told court about those lost and their own shattered futures.

Maysoon Salama, whose son Ata Elayyan - a futsal goalkeeper - died in the attacks, spoke directly to Tarrant at court.

“I can’t forgive you,” she said.

“You shattered so many dreams. You terrorised the whole of New Zealand and saddened the world … But if you thought you could break us, you failed miserably.”

New Zealand’s government tightened gun laws in response to the March 15 shootings, banning the military-style firearms used by Tarrant.