WELLINGTON (Reuters) – The mass shooter that killed 51 people in New Zealand in 2019 failed to appear in court on Thursday after seeking a judicial review of its prison conditions and its status as a terrorist entity.
White supremacist Brenton Tarrant was sentenced in August to life in prison without parole for the murders at two mosques in Christchurch on March 15, 2019, the worst mass shooting in the country’s history.
This week he launched a judicial challenge seeking to review the conditions of his prison and his status as a terrorist entity.
But Tarrant, who was due to represent himself at the Supreme Court hearing on Thursday by teleconference from an Auckland prison, did not attend.
Judge Geoffrey Venning adjourned the proceedings without a later date until a new Tarrant or Crown application.
Preliminary information provided to judicial officials indicated that Tarrant wanted to review the Corrections Department’s decisions about his prison conditions and also his designation as a “terrorist entity” under the Suppression of Terrorism Act.
Tarrant, an Australian national, is the only person in New Zealand to have been designated a terrorist.
The hearing will have nothing to do with the outcome of the criminal case against Tarrant, nor his conviction and sentence, the court said.
Praveen Menon Reports; Edited by Sam Holmes