Christchurch Mosque terrorist to launch legal challenge in New Zealand High Court

The Australian man who carried out the Christchurch mosque massacres is launching a legal challenge against his jail conditions in the New Zealand high court.

Brenton Tarrant, who was last year sentenced to life imprisonment for 51 murders and one charge of terrorism, will represent himself in a hearing in Auckland on Thursday.

He has requested a judicial review, which looks at whether decisions have been made appropriately within the law. He is not appealing against his sentence and the hearing has no bearing on the outcome of the criminal case or his terrorism conviction.

Information provided to the Guardian by the court appeared to indicate that the killer wants the court to review decisions made by the Department of Corrections about his prison conditions, and also possibly his designation as a “terrorist entity” under the Terrorism Suppression Act.

The gunman is being housed at an Auckland jail, with strict conditions surrounding his imprisonment, and few lines of communication to the outside world.

Justice Geoffrey Venning is scheduled to hear the case, with the Australian-raised terrorist to represent himself.

The hearing will be not be open to the public, though media will be permitted to attend.

In the attacks on 15 March 2019, the gunman killed 44 people at al Noor mosque during Friday prayers before driving to the Linwood mosque, where he killed another seven.

The 30-year-old pleaded guilty last year to 51 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder and one count of terrorism. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

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