Philip Arps was jailed for 21 months in June for distributing the video and is appealing against his sentence for a second time.
His lawyer, Anselm Williams, told the Court of Appeal in Wellington this morning that Arps acknowledged he crossed a line, but took steps not to share the video further.
“The decision to not distribute it any further once he heard that that was something that would be illegal.
“That in my submission is an important factor in this case,” he said.
Anselm Williams said Arps’ sentence should have been home detention.
However, the Crown argued the prison term was an appropriate sentence and said it verged on the lighter side.
The court has reserved its decision.
Man jailed for sharing mosque shooting video shouldn’t be behind bars – lawyer
The “live-streamed” video is a fake, made before March 15. It doesn’t show anyone being killed. It doesn’t show anyone who can be identified, with the exception of Mohammed Jama – the man in the white suit standing to the left of the gate as the “gunman” enters the grounds of Al Noor. Jama’s claim he accosted the gunman and asked him “Where you going?” is a lie. At no stage does Jama say anything to the gunman. The story of the imam, Gamal Fouda, who claims he watched the “shooting” through a peephole in the minbar (pulpit), is also a lie. There was no peephole in the minbar. Likewise, the claims of some “survivors” – that they were protected by others in those heaps of “bodies” at the two ends of the prayer hall – are shameless lies. Only a nation of imbecilic sheep, and a justice system that is willfully blind, would believe this utter nonsense. Philip Arps should be released immediately, as he has done nothing criminal. He has committed an indiscretion and made a few puerile comments. That is all.
and dont forget about the rehearsal for the event at a different Mosque. The video of that was shown to and even the press used a photo from the rehearsal on their front page showing a large man in white frock covered in blood coming out of the rehearsal