WELLINGTON (Reuters) – The mass shooter who killed 51 people in New Zealand in 2019 did not appear in court on Thursday after asking for a judicial review of his prison conditions and his status as a “terrorist entity”.
The white supremacy, Brenton Tarrant, was sentenced to life in prison in August for the murders of two mosques in Christchurch on March 15, 2019, the worst mass shooting in the country’s history.
He launched a legal challenge this week to review his prison conditions and his status as a “terrorist unit”.
But Tarrant, who was to represent himself at a high-court hearing from a prison in Auckland by teleconference on Thursday, did not attend.
Judge Geoffrey Venning adjourned the proceedings without a further date until further request from Tarrant of the Crown.
Preliminary information provided to court officials indicated that Tarrant wanted a review of decisions taken by the Department of Corrections on his prison conditions, and also that he was designated a “terrorist entity” under the Terrorism Suppression Act .
Tarrant, an Australian citizen, is the only person in New Zealand who has terrorist status.
The trial has no bearing on the outcome of the criminal case against Tarrant or his conviction and sentence, the court said.
Reporting by Praveen Menon; Edited by Sam Holmes