New Zealand mosque shooter gets life imprisonment without parole

The terrorist who killed 51 Muslim worshippers 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 the possibility of parole.

The terrorist who killed 51 Muslim worshippers 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 the possibility of parole.

Judge Cameron Mander of the Christchurch High Court said that a finite term would not be sufficient. “Your crimes … are so wicked that even if you are detained until you die it will not exhaust the requirements of punishment and denunciation,” said Mander as he handed down a sentence unprecedented in New Zealand legal history.

“Your actions were inhuman,” the judge said. “You deliberately killed a 3-year-old infant as he clung to the leg of his father…As far as I can discern, you are empty of any empathy for your victims.”

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.

The 29-year-old Australian terrorist 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.