New Zealand opened Tuesday an inquest into the 2019 Christchurch mosque massacres that killed 51 individuals, to find if any lives might have been saved.
White supremacist Brenton Tarrant shot and killed 51 Muslim worshippers at two Christchurch mosques on March 15, 2019, in New Zealand’s deadliest modern-day terrorist assault.
Deputy Chief Coroner Brigitte Windley opened the inquiry in Christchurch, saying it will “look at what we may learn from this atrocity and speak for those who have lost their lives in an effort to protect the living.”
Maha Galal, spokesperson for the “15 March Whanau Trust” representing among the victims’ family members, stated there was an “urgent need for answers.”
“Our paramount concern is to comprehend the truth,” Galal stated in a press release earlier than the inquiry started.
Family and buddies packed the courtroom for the emotionally charged opening session, which included a transferring video tribute to every of the 51 victims.
Detective Senior Sergeant Craig Farrant then gave an overview of the assaults, saying 49 individuals have been murdered within the house of 19 minutes – with two extra later dying of their accidents in hospital.
The detective described the murder investigation launched within the wake of the assaults as “the largest” ever undertaken by New Zealand police, “with the size and scope of the offending being unprecedented in our history.”
Observers have been proven a harrowing video depicting Tarrant’s actions round Christchurch on the day of the assault, together with footage he had filmed utilizing a GoPro digital camera.
Tarrant’s first assault on the Al Noor mosque would in the end lead to 44 individuals dying.
He then drove about 10 minutes to the close by Linwood Islamic Centre, the place he would kill seven extra worshippers.
The inquest will look at the response occasions of police and emergency providers, the medical response at every of the mosques, whether or not Tarrant was helped in planning the assault, and whether or not any lives might have been saved.
“This pursuit of truth is crucial for healing and closure,” stated Galal.
The households of the victims “are united in their pursuit of understanding, seeking clarity on whether their loved ones could have survived”, Galal added.
‘Base hatred’
The killings carried out by Tarrant, an Australian former gymnasium teacher from the agricultural New South Wales city of Grafton, horrified New Zealand and sparked international revulsion.
After admitting to 51 costs of homicide, 40 of tried homicide and certainly one of terrorism, he was sentenced in August 2020 to life imprisonment with out parole.
In his sentencing, Judge Cameron Mander stated Tarrant’s “warped” ideology and “base hatred” led him to homicide defenseless males, girls and kids.
Tarrant had livestreamed the killings on social media and printed a manifesto on-line earlier than finishing up the assaults.
Then-prime minister Jacinda Ardern rapidly moved to tighten gun legal guidelines within the aftermath and put stress on social media giants to curb on-line extremism.
Galal stated the victims’ households hoped the inquest would supply some closure and spotlight methods such an assault may very well be prevented sooner or later.
“We believe that there is much we can learn from what happened on March 15, 2019, so that we are all prepared, as a community, if such a tragedy happens again which we pray will not happen.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com