WARNING: contains distressing content.
A man shot in the leg by the Christchurch terrorist says the killer cannot be considered human.
Mustafa Boztas told the High Court at Christchurch this morning: “You are dead even though you can breathe.”
Brenton Harrison Tarrant (29) has admitted 51 counts of murder, 40 of attempted murder and one of engaging in a terrorist act, after the gunman attacked Christchurch's Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre on March 15 last year during Friday prayers.
The Australian-born gunman pleaded guilty unexpectedly in March this year and is being sentenced in the High Court at Christchurch this week.
Justice Cameron Mander will today hear the last of more than 80 victim-impact statements read over the past three days.
Mr Boztas (above), a New Zealand resident of 12 years, said Tarrant's acts meant he had no future.
“You can live nowhere but the past, alone and lonely,” he said.
“You're not actually a human, not even animal, since animals are beneficial to the world... You'll be remembered, but as a scared killer and nothing more.”
Ahad Nabi's father Haji was among those killed.
“I do not forgive you for what you've done and while you're in prison you'll come to the reality that you're now in hell and only the fire awaits you,” he said.
“Your father was a garbage man and you became trash of society. He's ashamed of your identity. You deserve to be buried in a landfill.”
Like others many others who have spoken in court, he stressed the killer's attempts to divide society had failed.
“Your wish is to make this world a racist cult of one colour, but you'll never succeed,” Ahad Nabi said.
“A peasant like you will never change the human race. My 71-year-old father would have broke in half if you'd challenged him to a fight.”
Three-year-old victim 'adored by all'
Aden Diriye was the father of one of the youngest victims of the mass murder - shot as Tarrant systematically executed those at Al Noor Mosque.
Three-year-old Mucaad Ibrahim was “adored by all”, he said.
“You have killed my son and to me that's as though you killed the whole of New Zealand,” Mr Diriye said.
“I will never forget how he would play in the mosque and made friends with every worshipper who entered, young and old... He loved to distribute the Koran.”
The proud father described how his son would pretend to be a police officer at home, and had a miniature uniform to match.
“I don't know you. I never hurt you, your father, your mother or any of your friends. Instead, I'm the type of person who would help you and your family with anything,” Mr Diriye said.
“I will never forgive you for what you have done.”
Mucaad's sister Khadra had never met her younger brother, but had a flight to New Zealand booked for just weeks after the attacks.
She spoke to the boy by video call before his untimely death and told him they would soon be united.
“As it turned out, I did not get to fulfil my promise to him,” she said.
Daughter of 'a hero'
Sara Qasem described herself as “daughter of a hero, daughter of a shining, glimmering man”.
Her father Abdelfattah survived Tarrant's first spray of bullets at Al Noor Mosque.
When the shooting stopped, rather than flee, he informed everyone that he was uninjured and asked who needed help. When the gunman returned, Abdelfattah was shot in the head.
“My sweet, devoted father never missed a Friday prayer,” Ms Qasem said.
“He stayed behind to help his brothers, doing for others before himself.”
She described the incident as “the darkest day of their lives” but there had since been “pockets of hope”.
Her students at the school where she taught now greeted her with “salaam alaikum” ("peace be upon you").“In the end love wins and love will always win,” Ms Qasem said.
While shedding tears during her statement, she was quick to point out to the man in the dock that they were not for him.
She would never understand his cold-blooded spree, she said.
“I pity you, your coarse and tainted heart and your narrow view of the world. You would have to be so utterly miserable to be so close-minded and yet live in such a beautiful diverse world,” said Ms Qasem.
“I urge you to take a look around this courtroom and ask yourself who exactly is the 'other' here, right now. Is it us or is it you? I think the answer's pretty clear.”
Her sister Rawan was seven months pregnant when the tragedy happened.
Mr Qasem was going to visit her in Australia after the birth and she had kept the child's gender secret as a surprise. Instead, her son was born in Christchurch, amid overwhelming grief as she tried to support the rest of her family.
“If my son becomes an ounce of what my father was we will have succeeded,” Rawan Qasem said.
Mulki Abdiwahab spoke eloquently of the “sensory overload” she felt in the midst of the horror.
“Bullets screamed past my left ear... thuds of bodies hitting the floor... constant reverberation of gunfire and mayhem,” she said.
Though she was uninjured, the images of the aftermath, Mrs Abdiwahab said, now invaded her sleep.
“It was a cold, calculated choice to rob us of our peacefulness and you turned our place of worship into a living tomb,” she said.
“I hope you rot in jail.”
'Huge hole in my heart'
Sahadat Mohammed has fragments of bullet inside his lungs and beside his heart. It was too risky for surgeons to remove them and he told the court he worried that one day they would kill him.
Mr Mohammed could not longer work as a chef, never play cricket and football as he had once loved to do. Even running caused him pain.
John Milne's 17-year-old son Sayyad was shot in the head at Al Noor Mosque.
He held a photo of the teenager aloft and repeatedly shouted to the court “he tangata - the people”.
The retired teacher, truck driver, handyman and labourer, born and bred in Christchurch, said despite the loss he forgave the defendant.
“You're forgiven unconditionally. Please just remember his name, Sayyad,” Mr Milne spelled it out.
“Not a single bullet hit me - I wasn't even there - but there's a huge hole in my heart.”
He urged Justice Mander to send Tarrant back to Australia, though that is not a decision the judge will ultimately make.
Crown prosecutor Mark Zarifeh will make submissions this afternoon once all victim-impact statements have been read.
Kerry Cook, the amicus curiae (counsel assisting the court), will then address the judge before Tarrant is given the opportunity to speak.
Justice Mander will formally pass sentence tomorrow.
