NEW YORK (Reuters) - New Zealand's Foreign Minister Winston Peters has vowed to sign the maximum possible sentence for the two-day Christmas massacre in Christchurch, which killed 50 people and wounded dozens.
In a speech at the end of the emergency meeting of the Executive Committee of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul, he said that the perpetrator of the massacre will spend the rest of his life isolated in a New Zealand prison.
Peters began by saluting Islam, and dozens of Muslim journalists and others in the conference hall replied, "Peace, mercy and blessings of God be upon you."
"This person will face the maximum sentence and will spend the rest of his life isolated in a New Zealand prison," he said.
"In a country where religious tolerance prevails, the attack on one of us is an attack on us all," he said, adding: "No punishment can match the ugliness of his crime, but justice will be done to the families of the victims.