16-04-2012, 06:44 AM
Norway braces for Anders Behring Breivik trial
Defence says extremist who planted Oslo bombs and carried out summer camp shootings will tell court he regrets only 77 died
guardian.co.uk, Monday 16 April 2012
He has proudly admitted planting the bombs which killed eight people in Oslo last summer and boasted of shooting dead a further 69, mostly teenagers, on an island summer camp.
But this week Anders Behring Breivik is expected take his opportunity to try to justify why he carried out Norway's worst peacetime atrocity when he steps into the witness box at his trial.
The 33-year-old's lawyer has warned that Breivik's testimony will not make easy listening. "Not only will he explain (his actions), but he will also say he regrets that he didn't go further," said Geir Lippestad. He was handpicked by Breivik after becoming well known for defending a neo-Nazi who stabbed to death a mixed-race teenager in Oslo 10 years ago.
Breivik is expected to deny terrorism charges at the start of his 10-week trial on Monday. His logic, according to his legal team, is that he carried out the attacks on 22 July last year in "self defence". He has said he intended his attacks as punishment of traitors whose pro-immigration policies were adulterating Norwegian blood.
Many Norwegians fear Breivik will succeed in using the trial as a showcase for his far-right views.
In a recent letter seen by Norwegian newspaper VG, Breivik said: "The court case looks like it will be a circus … it is an absolutely unique opportunity to explain the idea of (the manifesto) to the world."
"Your arrest will mark the initiation of the propaganda phase," he wrote in a manual for future attackers, part of a 1,500-page manifesto he posted online before the killings. "Your trial offers you a stage to the world."
The judges have decided some parts of the trial can be televised a rarity in Norway. Breivik's week-long witness statement will not be shown, partly to prevent him using the trial as a political platform. Eight hundred journalists from around the world are accredited to cover the case.
The Oslo courtroom, the country's biggest, can seat just over a tenth of the reporters, victims and relatives who may wish to attend, so closed-circuit viewing rooms have been set up nearby and in 17 other courthouses around Norway.
At the end of the trial, a panel of five judges must rule not only on Breivik's guilt, but also his sanity. An initial psychiatric test concluded Breivik was criminally insane while a second, completed in the past week, found no evidence of psychosis.
If found sane, Breivik faces a maximum 21-year sentence but could be held indefinitely if he is considered a continuing danger. If declared insane, he would be held in a psychiatric institution indefinitely with periodic reviews.
A report released this weekend claimed the international network of counter-jihadist groups which inspired Breivik is growing in reach and influence. But Breivik's attempts to garner sympathy for his right-wing views in Norway appear to have backfired.
At local elections last September, two months after the attacks, the turnout was the highest in two decades. Labour won 32% of the vote, its best result in 24 years. The Progress party to which Breivik briefly belonged had its worst performance in 16 years.
Defence says extremist who planted Oslo bombs and carried out summer camp shootings will tell court he regrets only 77 died
guardian.co.uk, Monday 16 April 2012
He has proudly admitted planting the bombs which killed eight people in Oslo last summer and boasted of shooting dead a further 69, mostly teenagers, on an island summer camp.
But this week Anders Behring Breivik is expected take his opportunity to try to justify why he carried out Norway's worst peacetime atrocity when he steps into the witness box at his trial.
The 33-year-old's lawyer has warned that Breivik's testimony will not make easy listening. "Not only will he explain (his actions), but he will also say he regrets that he didn't go further," said Geir Lippestad. He was handpicked by Breivik after becoming well known for defending a neo-Nazi who stabbed to death a mixed-race teenager in Oslo 10 years ago.
Breivik is expected to deny terrorism charges at the start of his 10-week trial on Monday. His logic, according to his legal team, is that he carried out the attacks on 22 July last year in "self defence". He has said he intended his attacks as punishment of traitors whose pro-immigration policies were adulterating Norwegian blood.
Many Norwegians fear Breivik will succeed in using the trial as a showcase for his far-right views.
In a recent letter seen by Norwegian newspaper VG, Breivik said: "The court case looks like it will be a circus … it is an absolutely unique opportunity to explain the idea of (the manifesto) to the world."
"Your arrest will mark the initiation of the propaganda phase," he wrote in a manual for future attackers, part of a 1,500-page manifesto he posted online before the killings. "Your trial offers you a stage to the world."
The judges have decided some parts of the trial can be televised a rarity in Norway. Breivik's week-long witness statement will not be shown, partly to prevent him using the trial as a political platform. Eight hundred journalists from around the world are accredited to cover the case.
The Oslo courtroom, the country's biggest, can seat just over a tenth of the reporters, victims and relatives who may wish to attend, so closed-circuit viewing rooms have been set up nearby and in 17 other courthouses around Norway.
At the end of the trial, a panel of five judges must rule not only on Breivik's guilt, but also his sanity. An initial psychiatric test concluded Breivik was criminally insane while a second, completed in the past week, found no evidence of psychosis.
If found sane, Breivik faces a maximum 21-year sentence but could be held indefinitely if he is considered a continuing danger. If declared insane, he would be held in a psychiatric institution indefinitely with periodic reviews.
A report released this weekend claimed the international network of counter-jihadist groups which inspired Breivik is growing in reach and influence. But Breivik's attempts to garner sympathy for his right-wing views in Norway appear to have backfired.
At local elections last September, two months after the attacks, the turnout was the highest in two decades. Labour won 32% of the vote, its best result in 24 years. The Progress party to which Breivik briefly belonged had its worst performance in 16 years.
"Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who writes the laws. - Mayer Rothschild
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass