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The lawyer the state appointed to represent the Australian man accused of shooting dead 50 people at two New Zealand mosques said on Monday the suspect doesn’t appear mentally unstable and plans to represent himself.
The announcement raises concerns that “white supremacist” Brenton Tarrant could espouse his extreme views in court as he conducts his own defence.
Tarrant was charged with one count of murder and appeared at Christchurch District Court on Saturday after the rampage during Friday prayers. He will face more charges when he appears in court again on April 5.
Duty lawyer Richard Peters, who represented him during the preliminary court hearing, said the 28-year-old “indicated he does not want a lawyer”.
“He wants to be self-represented in this case,” Peters told AFP news agency.
At his first court appearance, Tarrant didn’t speak but appeared unrepentant, smirking at journalists and flashing an upside down “OK” sign – a symbol associated with white power groups around the world.
Peters told the New Zealand Herald newspaper that Tarrant appeared lucid and mentally sound, other than the extreme views he held.
“The way he presented was rational and someone who was not suffering any mental disability. That’s how he appeared. He seemed to understand what was going on,” he said.
Selling guns
Tightening New Zealand’s gun laws was at the top of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s agenda as she met with her cabinet on Monday for the first time since the massacre.
“What the public rightly are asking right now is why is it and how is it that you are currently able to buy military style semi-automatic weapons in New Zealand, and that’s the right question to ask,” Ardern told TVNZ.
“There are ways we can bring in affective regulation of firearms that actually target those we need to target and that is our focus.”
Ardern later told a press conference that the cabinet was unanimous in plans to change gun laws but said details would be announced at a later date.
New Zealand, a country of only five million people, has an estimated 1.5 million firearms. The minimum age for a gun license is 16, and 18 to own a semi-automatic weapon.
Ardern has said the attacker used five guns, two of them semi-automatic, which were purchased with an ordinary gun license and modified.