He could be the first person in New Zealand to be sentenced to life without parole. Australia's Brenton Tarrant, perpetrator of the Christchurch bombing, will be determined on his fate at the end of the four-day hearing, which began Monday, August 24 in the Christchurch High Court.

For the home stretch of his trial, the 29-year-old Australian, who had so far attended by videoconference from his Auckland high-security prison, was present in court. This is the first time he has been confronted with survivors and families since the attacks of March 15, 2019.

Brenton Tarrant, silent and unmoved

Dressed in his gray inmate uniform, and flanked by three police officers in the cubicle, Brenton Tarrant remained silent and unmoved, occasionally raising his head to look at the audience.

Prosecutor Barnaby Hawes gave a chilling account of the facts, explaining that the accused "wanted to kill more people". He recounted how the Australian had that day methodically slaughtered women, children and men, while filming the killings and televising it live on social media, how he ignored pleas for pity from some victims, how he had run over a body while going from one mosque to another.

When he saw a three-year-old clinging to his father's leg, Brenton Tarrant executed him "with two precisely placed bullets," Barnaby Hawes said. Several lawyers believe that the Australian will be the first, in New Zealand, to be sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

"Kill as many people as possible"

Brenton Tarrant had been arrested as he hoped to reach Ashburton, an hour south of Christchurch, to attack a third mosque there.

"One of New Zealand's darkest days"

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"He admitted to the police having gone to mosques with the aim of killing as many people as possible," Barnaby Hawes said. "During the hearings, (...) he explained that the attacks were motivated by his ideological convictions and that he hoped to sow fear among those he describes as 'invaders', in particular the Muslim population and all immigrants non-Europeans. "

Gamal Fouda, imam of al-Nour Mosque in Christchurch, said he had that day "seen hatred in the eyes of a fanatic terrorist". "Your hatred is not necessary," he told the Australian.

After having long denied being the author of the largest mass murder in New Zealand's modern history, the defendant ended up pleading guilty in March. He was found guilty of the murder of 51 people, 40 attempted murders and an act of terrorism.

A very prepared attack

Brenton Tarrant arrived in New Zealand in 2017, the prosecutor said. He lived in Dunedin, 360 km south of Christchurch, where he had assembled an entire arsenal and purchased over 7,000 ammunition.

Two months before the attacks, he had traveled to Christchurch to locate the scene. He had flown a drone over al-Nour Mosque, filming the building, its entrances and exits, and made detailed notes on the journey to Linwood Mosque.

On March 15, 2019, he had driven from Dunedin to Christchurch equipped with multiple semi-automatic weapons on which he had inscribed various symbols as well as references to the Crusades and recent attacks.

He had spare magazines full of ammunition as well as jerry cans "to set the mosques on fire," Barnaby Hawes said. "He said he wished he had done it."

A few minutes before taking action, he had sent his 74-page "manifesto" to an extremist site, warned his family of what he was about to do and sent e-mails containing threats to several editorial staff. against mosques.

Strict media control

Brenton Tarrant chose to defend himself on his own, without a lawyer.

For his part, Judge Cameron Mander imposed drastic restrictions on media coverage of the proceedings to prevent the accused from using his trial as a platform to spread his hate messages.

The magistrate notably indicates to the media, which are not authorized to report live the content of the hearings, what they can or not report.

The slaughter led the government to toughen the gun law and step up efforts to fight extremism on the Internet.

Famous Christchurch lawyer Nigel Hampton has said this "terrifying crime requires extraordinary punishment".

With AFP

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