One of the arguments offered by opponents of the death sentence is that a life term in prison without the possibility of parole is a far harsher punishment to inflict on persons held guilty of the most heinous crimes. The weight of that argument has descended on an Australian white supremacist who has now been sentenced by a court in Christchurch for killing 51 people and causing injury to 40 others in attacks on two mosques in the New Zealand city last year.

This is the first time such a harsh punishment has been awarded in the country, but the other significant aspect of the trial for readers in India must be the speed and efficiency with which it was concluded. Pronouncing sentence on 29-year-old Brenton Tarrant, who may have to spend over 50 years in jail reflecting on his crime if the Australian male life expectancy of 82 years is taken into account, Judge Cameron Mander said that a finite term would not be sufficient.

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The judge said: “Your crimes, however, are so wicked that even if you are detained until you die it will not exhaust the requirements of punishment and denunciation. As far as I can discern, you are empty of any empathy for your victims.”

Armed with semi-automatic weapons and assault rifles, Tarrant had attacked the Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre in Christchurch on 15 March 2019 in an incident that shocked the low-crime country and the world. He live-streamed the attacks on Facebook, evidently to impress others who share his views, and to instil fear in those he called invaders.

Neither New Zealand nor Australia have large Muslim communities, but both countries pursue focused immigration policies aimed at drawing professionals from across the world. The Christchurch attack could thus have had two immediate effects ~ one, cast a racist shadow on the two countries and two, served as a rallying point for Islamic extremist groups with the possibility of retaliatory attacks. In the event, the empathy which New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern immediately displayed towards families of victims and the Muslim community was exemplary and offered a lesson to other leaders around the world.

That the lesson remains largely unlearned need not detain us here, but certainly the speed with which Tarrant was prosecuted and a sentence handed out to him would reinforce the belief that the rule of law prevails in some parts of the world. While Tarrant has the rest of his life to ponder over his act, and while the example that New Zealand has set may deter others of his ilk, the world is still a long way away from getting rid of prejudice and hate. But an important step has been taken in Christchurch, and civilised people around the world must hope it will be emulated elsewhere. UAE and Israel