(Reuters) – The Norwegian militant who massacred 77 people last summer gave a clenched-fist
salute, smirked at the court and said he acted to defend his country against Muslims on the first day of a trial that
threatens to turn into a “circus” showcasing his far-right views.
his terrorism and murder trial in a courtroom in Oslo April 16, 2012. REUTERS/Heiko Junge/Pool
Anders Behring Breivik, 33, has admitted setting off a car bomb that killed
eight people at government headquarters in Oslo last July, then killing 69 in a shooting spree at a summer youth camp on an
island organized by the ruling Labour Party.
The real question of the trial will be whether Breivik will be declared
insane or criminal. While he risks staying behind bars for the rest of his life, the high school dropout has said being
labeled insane would be a “fate worse than death”.
Wearing a suit and loose tie, Breivik entered the court in
handcuffs, which were taken off just before he was seated. He smirked several times as the cuffs were removed, put his right
fist on his heart then extended his hand in salute.
“I do not recognize the Norwegian courts. You have received your
mandate from political parties which support multiculturalism,” Breivik told the court after refusing to stand when judges
entered the courtroom. ”
“I acknowledge the acts but not criminal guilt as I claim self defense,” he added, seated in
front of a bullet-proof glass wall.
Occasionally suppressing a yawn and sipping water, he stared down at the
indictment papers, following without visible emotion a laundry list of his killings as the prosecutor read out each one. Some
details were so graphic that Norwegian television bleeped out descriptions of the massacres.
The trial is scheduled to
last 10 weeks and has raised fears that it could reopen wounds in Norway, a country that prides itself on its tolerant and
peaceful society.
The “lone wolf” killer intends to say he was defending Norway against multiculturalism and Islam. He
says the attacks were intended as punishment of “traitors” whose pro-immigration policies were adulterating Norwegian
blood.
More than 200 people took seats in the specially built Oslo courtroom while about 700 attack survivors and
family members of victims watched on closed-circuit video around the country.
“Today the trial starts, and it will be
a tough time for many,” survivor Vegard Groeslie Wennesland, 28, said outside the courtroom. “Last time I saw him in person
he was shooting my friends.”
“PANIC AND MORTAL FEAR”
Some Norwegians fear Breivik will succeed in making the
trial, with about 800 journalists on hand, a platform for his anti-immigrant ideas. His defense team has called 29 witnesses
to shed light on his world view. Norway’s legal system gives defendants wide leeway to defend themselves as they wish, but
judges can trim the witness list.
Breivik’s proposed witnesses include Mullah Krekar, the Kurdish founder of Islamist
group Ansar al-Islam, who was recently jailed in Norway for making death threats, and “Fjordman”, a right-wing blogger who
influenced Breivik.
Breivik is scheduled to testify for about a week, starting on Tuesday.
Breivik had been
living with his mother in Oslo preparing for the attacks before renting a farm in order to make a fertilizer
bomb.
Last July 22, he set off the bomb in the centre of Oslo before heading to the youth camp on Utoeya island in a
lake 40 km (25 miles) outside the capital, gunning down his victims while police took more than an hour to get to the
massacre site in the chaos following the blast.
Disguised as a police officer, Breivik managed to lure some of his
victims out of hiding saying help had arrived. Other victims jumped into a lake, where he shot at them in the
water.
Reading out the indictment, prosecutor Inga Bejer Engh spoke of the “panic and mortal fear in children, youths
and adults” trapped on the island.
The prosecutors painted an image of a Breivik obsessed with the “World of Warcraft”
computer game, prompting the judge to ask whether the game was violent. Breivik broke into a smile when the image of his
online character was displayed.
“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. “Your trial offers you a stage to the
world.”
In a recent letter seen by the 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.”
An initial
psychiatric evaluation concluded that Breivik was criminally insane while a second, completed in the past week, found no
evidence of psychosis. Resolving this conflict could be the five-judge panel’s major decision.
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.
The courthouse, accessible through
airport-style security, was barricaded by TV trucks as 200 media organizations have descended on Oslo, home of the Nobel
Peace Prize.
The courtroom, the country’s biggest, can seat just over a tenth of the journalists, victims and
relatives wishing to attend, so closed-circuit viewing rooms have been set up nearby and in 17 other courthouses around
Norway.
The trial will also examine Breivik’s initial claim that he was part of an organization of “Knights Templar”
with similar views. Police said evidence now points to solitary attacks by Breivik after years of radicalization.
Lone
wolf attackers have become an increasing security risk worldwide, with U.S. President Barack Obama last year saying they now
pose a greater danger than large, coordinated actions.
(Additional reporting by Victoria Klesty and Terje Solsvik:
Writing by Alistair Scrutton, Editing by Giles Elgood)