An Australian man convicted of the tragic mass shooting at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, is planning to challenge his conviction. Brenton Tarrant, who was 28 at the time of the attack, is seeking an appeal after being sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the horrific events of March 2019.

In a shocking attack that sent ripples of grief and outrage around the world, Tarrant gunned down 51 people and wounded dozens more, targeting men, women, and children in their places of worship. The massacre has been recognized as one of the deadliest mass shootings in modern history.

Tarrant confessed to the crime in March 2020, pleading guilty to all charges brought against him. This led to his life sentence, ensuring he would never again walk free in society.

Nevertheless, Tarrant is now set to appear in New Zealand’s Court of Appeal, asserting that his initial guilty plea was coerced and made under duress, claiming that he was subjected to torture. He is requesting the court to nullify his guilty pleas, reduce his sentence, and grant him a retrial.

Over the course of the next five days, Tarrant plans to present evidence supporting his allegations that he was unable to make clear, rational decisions during his trial and to explain why there was a delay in filing his appeal.

Tarrant is set to give evidence over the next five days as to why he was incapable of making rational decisions at the time he pleaded guilty, as he claimed, and why he delayed his appeal application.

It’s understood Tarrant will address the court from a special unit via audiovisual link from a maximum security prison.

As stated in his original appeal application from 2022, Tarrant alleges he only entered a guilty plea after he was ‘held under illegal and torturous prison conditions, necessary legal documents withheld from myself, fallout with previous lawyers, irrationality brought on through prison conditions.’

Brenton Tarrant was sentenced to life behind bars after pleading guilty to the horrific attack

The massacre at Al Noor mosque (pictured) and the Linwood Islamic Centre was live streamed

The victims of the Christchurch attack: (top row, from left) Mohamed Moosid Mohamedhosen, Lilik Abdul Hamid, Ansi Alibava, Maheboob Khokar, Syed Jahandad Ali, Hamza Mustafa, Osama Adnan, Areeb Ahmed; (second row, from left) Haroon Mahmood, Mohammad Atta Elayyan, Khaled Mustafa, Sayyad Milne, Haji Daoud Nabi, Farhaj Ahsan, Linda Armstrong, Ashraf Ali; (third row, from left) Abdulfatteh Qasem, Mucad Ibrahim, Mohammed Omar Faruk, Husne Ara Parvin, Ozair Kadir, Naeem Rashid and his son Talha Naeem, Tariq Omar, Musa Nur Awale; (fourth row, from left) Kamel Darwish, Arifbhai Vora, Sohail Shadid, Abdus Samad, Hussein al-Umari, Zeeshan Raza, Ali Elmadani, Zakaria Bhuiya; (fifth row, from left) Amjad Hamid, Mojammel Hoq, Ramiz Vora, Musa Vali Suleman Patel, Mounir Suleiman, Junaid Ismail, Ghulam Hussain, Karam Bibi, (bottom row, from left) Matiullah Safi, Muhammad Haziq Mohd-Tarmizi, Hussein Moustafa, Mohammed Imran Khan, Mohsen Mohammed Al Harbi, Ahmed Abdel Ghani, Zekeriya Tuyan and Abdukadir Elmi. Not pictured: Ashraf Morsi, Ashraf al-Masri

New Zealand’s then-prime minister Jacinda Ardern refused to refer to the terrorist by his name

The hearing is subject to strict suppression orders, with the names of the lawyers representing Tarrant fully suppressed over concerns for their safety.

Victims and family members will be able to watch the hearing via a delayed broadcast.

Aya al-Umari, who lost her older brother Hussein in the attack on Al Noor mosque, is among those planning to watch the hearing.

‘It will be just an image that I am looking at, because he means absolutely nothing to me at this stage,’ she told the BBC.

‘I suspect one of his main motivations to do this is to open up traumas again and I won’t let him succeed in doing that – he just wants his limelight and to be relevant again.’

If the three appeal court judges decide Tarrant can withdraw his guilty plea, the case could potentially go to trial on all charges.

If his appeal bid fails, there could be another hearing later this year to consider his sentence.

More to come.