'I saw him when he shot me': Mosque attack survivor says terrorist is seeking attention with appeal

Tuesday, 8 November 2022

The terrorist responsible for killing 51 people at two Christchurch mosques in 2019 has appealed to appeal his conviction and sentence.

“I would like to tell him, ‘Grow up, be a man and die quietly in jail because that is what you deserve’.”

That was the reaction of Temel Atacocugu, a survivor of the Christchurch March 15 attacks, when asked about the terrorist’s latest attempt to appeal against his conviction and sentence.

Brenton Tarrant killed 51 people and wounded 40 others when he carried out mass shootings at two Christchurch mosques in 2019.

In August 2020 he was sentenced to life without parole after he pleaded guilty to 51 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder and a terrorism charge.

Temel Atacocugu, a survivor of the Christchurch March 15 terror attack, says the gunman should “die quietly in jail” because that is what he deserves. (File photo)

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The Court of Appeal confirmed on Tuesday the terrorist has since filed an appeal against his conviction and sentence. No hearing has been set at this stage.

Atacocugu, who was shot nine times during the attack, said he believed the gunman was “playing a game” and simply seeking public attention by filing the appeal application.

“Everybody knows he killed 51 people and shot 40 others – I am one of them. I saw him when he shot me. If he is thinking he shouldn’t be in jail forever or die in jail, he is just dreaming.”

Atacocugu called on the courts to swiftly put an end to the shooter’s appeal attempt so the matter can finally be closed, and the gunman can spend the rest of his life serving his prison sentence.

“He can’t run away from accountability. He is a murderer and a terrorist who even killed a 3-year-old boy.”

The Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (FIANZ) said the gunman was trying to “normalise hate by raising his hate-filled ideology during court cases”.

In a statement, the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (FIANZ) said it was not surprised by the gunman’s latest attempt at gaining notoriety “and in the process milk our justice platforms for hate speech and in an attempt to gain new adherents to their cause of hate”.

“This is rather a blatant and calculated attempt to re-traumatise the Christchurch victims specifically and the nation as a whole. This shows that the March 15 terrorist has no remorse.”

FIANZ said the appeal was “a wake-up call” to all politicians that terrorists “can also cause havoc to social cohesion even from prison”.

Asked about the appeal on Tuesday, Justice Minister Kiri Allan said there was no role the Government could play in the matter as it was something that had to be dealt with by the courts.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the terrorist’s name was one that should not be repeated and his story one that should not be told.

“And I am going to apply that same rule on his attempts to re-victimise people – we should give him nothing.”

John Ip, an associate professor of law at the University of Auckland, said while the gunman had a right to appeal to the Court of Appeal, he was outside the stated time period for filing one, meaning the court would first have to agree to extend the time allowed for filing the appeal.

“Since he pleaded guilty, his appeal against conviction would need to demonstrate exceptional circumstances of some sort – that a miscarriage of justice would otherwise result.”

Should the Court of Appeal hear and dismiss his appeal, the terrorist would need to apply for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court if he has any hope of taking his case further.

The gunman carried out New Zealand’s worst ever terrorist attack, killing 44 people at Al Noor Mosque, and seven others at Linwood Islamic Centre during Friday prayers. The shooting was streamed live online and shared thousands of times.

The attack led to major gun reforms in New Zealand and prompted the Christchurch Call, an initiative to eliminate extremist content online.

It is still unclear whether the appeal process will bring a temporary halt to the coronial inquiry into the events of that day.

Coroner Brigitte Windley earlier launched a coronial inquiry into the attack, with the first phase of the inquest hearing scheduled to take place from May 15 to June 9 at the Christchurch law courts.

The inquiry will consider aspects such as whether the terrorist acted alone on the day of the attack, and if any of the deceased could have possibly survived.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice said the coroner will now consider the impact of the gunman’s appeal on the coronial inquiry.