via BBC News - World on 4/16/12
The man accused of killing 77 people in bomb and gun attacks in Norway last July is due to take to the stand on the second day of his trial in Oslo.
via Yahoo! News - Top Stories on 4/16/12
The anti-Muslim fanatic who admitted to killing 77 people in a bomb-and-shooting massacre is set to take the stand Tuesday in his terror trial.
via Yahoo! News - Top Stories on 4/17/12
0924 GMT: He continues: "It is extremely unfair and it is unacceptable… We as Norway's indigenous population … have special rights to this country and this is something we will fight for."
via The Guardian World News by Haroon Siddique, Helen Pidd on 4/17/12
10.26am: Breveik has concluded his statement, asking to be found not guilty.
I cannot plead guilty, I acted to defend my country. So I ask to be acquitted.The court will now take a lunch break until 11.30am BST.
10.21am: Breivik has said he is exercising "self-censorship, just so you know" but there is little evidence of that,
Helen Pidd writes.10.18am: Breivik has claimed his views chime at least partially with those of the leaders of France, Germany and the UK who he says have all expressed the opinion that multiculturalism does not work.
After insisting that he would have "done it again" because "the offences against my people and my fellow partisans" are "as bad", Breivik said he had not targetted innocent young people on Utøya. He said those on the island on 22 July were "brainwashed". Those he killed, he said, were "not innocent non-political children; these were young people who worked to actively uphold multicultural values."
Breivik: "Sarkozy, Merkel and Cameron have all admitted multiculturalism does not work".10.09am: Breivik has been ordered to wrap up by the judge but the accused says he only has three pages left and it is "essential" to explain his actions. The prosecution says he should be allowed to finish.
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 17, 2012
He has mentioned Muslims directly for the first time.
#breivik: muslims do not even want to integrate. This is myth. They want autonomy under sharia, they despise our values.9.59am: The judge has intervened in Breivik's testimony asking him to keep it relevant after he talks about other countries and has also asked him to speed it up.
— Jonah Hull (@jonahhull) April 17, 2012
Judge interrupts breivik. 30 mins have passed. He says he's half way. She tells him to wrap up. He says not possible.
— Jonah Hull (@jonahhull) April 17, 2012
#Breivik judge asks him to speed it up. At least stick to Norway comments she says, after he talks about Japanese society...
— Matthew Price (@matthewwprice) April 17, 2012
Judge asks #Breivik to finish. He still has another 5 pages to read. Argues that is already cut from 20 to 13 pages. #22juli
— Trygve Sorvaag (@TrygveSorvaag) April 17, 2012
Judge concerned this is taking too long. Defence says they do have 5 days so encourages judge to allow him to continue#Breivik continues9.52am: Some more updates from Helen:
— Matthew Price (@matthewwprice) April 17, 2012
Breivik says he would have done it all again because he was motivated by "goodness, not evil" and did it to save lives.
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 17, 2012
Can't believe they are allowing all of this - Breivik compares the Labour party youth wing with the Hitlerjugend.Breivik claimed he had lessened his rhetoric out of respect for the victims and survivors.
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 17, 2012
He said:
9.39am: Breivik has been railing against marxists, multiculturalists, journalists, feminists.
Dying for your people is not only our right but our duty. I am not scared by the prospect of being in prison all my life. I was born in a prison since I cannot...This prison is called Norway.
Now railing against "cultural marxists" who introduced "feminism, quotas... who transformed the church, school".
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 17, 2012
Breivik: "Can norway be a democracy if 100% of news agencies promote multicultural values? The answer is no..."
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 17, 2012
Breivik now quotes from the Times, February 9 2010, a survey which allegedly said:
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 17, 2012
Breivik quotes from the Times: "3/5 englishmen believe that the UK has turned into a dysfunctional society as a result of multiculturalism"I can find no record of the Times article he referred to in his evidence.
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 17, 2012
9.22am: Breivik has started giving evidence so the TV cameras are switched off.
Breivik:"I have carried out the most sophisticated and spectacular political attack committed in europe since the second world war."9.14am: Breivik has been given permission by the judge to read the statement his defence counsel referred to yesterday. His lawyer said it would take about 30 minutes to read the statement.
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 17, 2012
Judge tells Breivik he does not have to give evidence but if he does so, he has duty to tell the truth. He will start reading by a statement9.07am: The court is back in session. Lay judge Thomas Inderbro's statements on Facebook "may weaken the trust in his impartiality", says chief judge Elisabeth Arntzen.
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 17, 2012
As such he is to be dismissed from the case and replaced.
9.02am: Another update from Helen in Oslo while we wait for the trial to resume:
Various colleagues and Tweeters have asked why Breivik shook hands with court staff when he arrived in court for the first day of his trial yesterday. I checked with a judicial press officer and she said there is no convention - "what he did was neither normal nor abnormal". No one had to shake his hand. But the judicial authorities have have been at pains to treat Breivik's trial as a normal trial as much as possible. Even though Breivik has admitted the killings, he is pleading not guilty, on the grounds of "necessity". And in Norway, as in Britain and beyond, the accused is innocent until proven otherwise. So to refuse to shake Breivik's hand could have been seen to be not affording him the respect given to other "normal" defendants.Breivik once more made a closed fist salute when he arrived in court this morning, as he did on day one.
8.31am: While we're waiting for the decision on the lay judge, Helen writes:
8.19am: Helen writes:
Sitting in court this week among all the journalists, lawyers, survivors and bereaved are at least two people who knew Breivik well. One, a reporter for the broadcasters NRK, went to school with him. The other, Kristoffer Nikolai Andresen, 33, is a childhood friend of the defendant who has been signed up by the Norwegian tabloid, VG, to report on the trial. I can't link to Andressen's full court report from Day one because it's not online, but he is at pains to stress that he no longer considers Breivik a friend.
Under the Norwegian legal system, Breivik's case will be heard by a panel of two professional judges and three lay judges (i.e. members of the public).
The lay judge posted on Facebook last year that the "death penalty is the only just thing to do" in Breivik's case. This message was posted on 23 July, the day after Breivik's massacres.
The lead judge, Elisabeth Arntzen told the court that Thomas Inderbro, 33, a receptionist in his normal life, "acknowledges giving such statements". All the counsel were given the chance to object. The defence, prosecution and lawyers for the victims and bereaved all agreed that they viewed Inderbro as "legally incompetent" and should be replaced on the panel.
8.12am: After the issue was raised by the prosecution, all parties i.e. prosecution defence and counsel for the aggrieved persons have all agreed that the lay judge alleged to have written on their facebook page last summer that Breivik deserved to be executed (see 8.03am) should be removed from the panel.
The judge has called for a 30 minute break.
8.08am: Another important update from Helen Pidd.
The English interpreters have just issued a clarification about a mistranslation yesterday of Breivik's defence. He did not invoke "self defence" but "necessity". This is allowed under section 47 of the Norwegian penal code.Section 47 reads:
8.03am: Helen Pidd writes about an overnight development:
No person may be punished for any act that he has committed in order to save someone's person or property from an otherwise unavoidable danger when the circumstances justified him in regarding this danger as particularly significant in relation to the damage that might be caused by his act.
There has been an upset overnight after a blogger claimed that one of the lay judges had written on their Facebook page last summer that Breivik deserved to be executed. When the case resumes at 8am BST, the defence are expected.
to ask for this judge to be removed from the panel. Luckily the court appointed a reserve judge, who was in court yesterday watching proceedings.
Once that matter is resolved, the judges will decide whether Breivik is allowed to read out a half-hour written statement he has prepared while on remand in prison. He will read this, if allowed, and will then give evidence, answering questions posed by the prosecution. His testimony is scheduled to last five days
7.58am: Good morning. Welcome to live coverage of day two of the trial of Anders Behring Breivik.
The accused is due to take to the stand to give evidence today. TV cameras have been banned from broadcasting his testimony to avoid giving Breivik a direct platform to air his views. However, reporters are still allowed in and Helen Pidd will be filing updates from the courtroom.
Yesterday, Breivik pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
You can read yesterday's live blog here.
And here is the news story that appeared in today's Guardian.
guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
via Christian Science Monitor | World on 4/17/12
The accused killer of 77 people gave a fascist salute as he entered the court in Oslo, Norway.
via Yahoo! News - Top Stories on 4/17/12
Lawyers on all sides on Tuesday requested that one of the lay judges trying confessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik be dismissed for saying the anti-Muslim extremist deserves the death penalty for killing 77 people in a bomb-and-shooting massacre.
via Forensic Psychiatry News by Mike Nova on 4/16/12
Extremist Norwegian killer declared sane - FT.com
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Anders Behring Breivik, the rightwing extremist who confessed to massacring 77 people in Norway last year, has been declared sane by a psychiatric team before his trial starting next week.
An assessment commissioned by Oslo District Court found that he was “not psychotic, unaware or severely mentally handicapped” during the shooting spree at a Labour party youth camp last July.
The findings contradict an assessment last November that found him to be insane and therefore potentially not fit for a conventional prison sentence. It raises the possibility Mr Breivik may face jail rather than being committed to a psychiatric ward if found guilty.
He could face up to 21 years in prison if found guilty with the potential for indefinite extensions to his term as long as he is considered a danger to the public.
Mr Breivik has always insisted he is mentally stable, saying he carried out the attacks in a “crusade” against multiculturalism and Islam. In a recent letter to the Norwegian tabloid Verdans Gang, he said being sent to a psychiatric ward would be a “fate worse than death”.
“To send a political activist to an asylum is more sadistic and more evil than killing him,” he wrote, adding that 80 per cent of the first report into his mental state was wrong.
The new report from forensic psychiatrists Terje Tørrissen and Agnar Aspaas concludes that he did not have “significantly weakened capacity for realistic evaluation of his relations with the outside world, and did not act under severely impaired consciousness”.
The report was drawn up on the basis of the case documents, interviews, health records and three weeks of observation in an institution. It concluded there was “a high risk of repetition of violence”.
Mr Breivik, who was charged last month with terrorism offences, has confessed to the attacks. He admitted last year to planting a bomb in Oslo and then driving to the island of Utøya and killing 67 people, mostly teenagers, and wounding 33 others.
Last month prosecutors said they would seek compulsory psychiatric care rather than jail because of the previous report declaring him psychotic, but reserved the right to change their minds. The court will ultimately have to decide whether to declare him insane or not.
The attacks, on July 22 last year, are the worst act of violence Norway has seen since the second world war and led to soul searching about how such a shocking crime could have occurred in a place normally known for safety, equality and wealth.
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April 10, 2012 3:29 pm
Extremist Norwegian killer declared sane
By Michael Stothard
An assessment commissioned by Oslo District Court found that he was “not psychotic, unaware or severely mentally handicapped” during the shooting spree at a Labour party youth camp last July.
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- In depth Norway massacre
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He could face up to 21 years in prison if found guilty with the potential for indefinite extensions to his term as long as he is considered a danger to the public.
Mr Breivik has always insisted he is mentally stable, saying he carried out the attacks in a “crusade” against multiculturalism and Islam. In a recent letter to the Norwegian tabloid Verdans Gang, he said being sent to a psychiatric ward would be a “fate worse than death”.
“To send a political activist to an asylum is more sadistic and more evil than killing him,” he wrote, adding that 80 per cent of the first report into his mental state was wrong.
The new report from forensic psychiatrists Terje Tørrissen and Agnar Aspaas concludes that he did not have “significantly weakened capacity for realistic evaluation of his relations with the outside world, and did not act under severely impaired consciousness”.
The report was drawn up on the basis of the case documents, interviews, health records and three weeks of observation in an institution. It concluded there was “a high risk of repetition of violence”.
Mr Breivik, who was charged last month with terrorism offences, has confessed to the attacks. He admitted last year to planting a bomb in Oslo and then driving to the island of Utøya and killing 67 people, mostly teenagers, and wounding 33 others.
Last month prosecutors said they would seek compulsory psychiatric care rather than jail because of the previous report declaring him psychotic, but reserved the right to change their minds. The court will ultimately have to decide whether to declare him insane or not.
The attacks, on July 22 last year, are the worst act of violence Norway has seen since the second world war and led to soul searching about how such a shocking crime could have occurred in a place normally known for safety, equality and wealth.
via Forensic Psychiatry News by Mike Nova on 4/16/12
Breivik refuses to recognise Oslo court - FT.com
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High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1b18616a-8796-11e1-ade2-00144feab49a.html#ixzz1sErpzgBt
Last updated:April 16, 2012 11:43 am
Breivik refuses to recognise Oslo court
By Martin Sandbu in Oslo
The Norwegian who has admitted taking 77 lives in a terrorist bombing and shooting spree in July gave a fascist-style salute and refused to recognise the court at the start of his trial on Monday.
However, victims of the atrocity expressed satisfaction with the first day of Anders Behring Breivik’s trial for homicide and terrorism.
Tore Sinding Bekkedal, a Labour youth politician who survived the massacre at the Utøya summer camp, said he had worried about the “media circus” surrounding the trial. But he summed up the first day as “relievingly dignified”. Some 1,400 journalists from around the world have been accredited by the Oslo district court.
The accused looked nervous but exhilarated when he appeared in the courtroom. Once handcuffs were removed, he performed a salute by taking his right fist to his heart before extending the arm.
After the presiding judge, Wenche Elizabeth Arntzen, offered Mr Breivik the opportunity to speak, the accused said he did not recognise the court, “because its mandate derives from parties that support multiculturalism, and because you [Ms Arntzen] are a friend of Hanne Harlem, sister of Gro Harlem Brundtland”, the former Labour prime minister of Norway.
His lawyer explained later that Mr Breivik thought he should be tried by a military tribunal.
Mr Breivik stared down while the prosecution read the indictment, including the name of each person killed and the manner of their death in Oslo and on the island of Utøya. Mr Breivik acknowledged the actions but pleaded not guilty to terror and murder charges, saying he was acting in self-defence.
The accused, who otherwise rarely betrayed emotion, shocked the audience by weeping in court as the state prosecutor, Svein Holden, screened a 12-minute ideological slideshow that Mr Breivik had uploaded to the internet just hours before he carried out his attacks. He smiled and chatted with his lawyers when the court adjourned shortly afterward.
One of the most gripping moments of the day came when Mr Holden played a recording of a girl’s emergency call to the police while she was hiding from Mr Breivik in a toilet.
“I’m so scared” she could be heard whispering, as loud shots sounded in the background.
The prosecutor also played two calls Mr Breivik made to the police to surrender, neither of which seems to have been followed up.
Controversy has marked the preparations for the trial. In dispute is whether Mr Breivik was psychotic at the time of the act, as a first psychiatric evaluation concluded. If the court agrees, the law would rule out a criminal conviction but Mr Breivik could be sentenced to compulsory psychiatric care.
A second evaluation made a different diagnosis, which would permit a criminal sentence of a jail term of up to 21 years or indefinite detention.
Mr Holden said prosecutors had not decided whether to demand a criminal conviction. His co-prosecutor, Inga Bejer Engh, suggested that they will not present proofs for or against an insanity defence, but let the evidence “cast light from all sides”.
Lawyers for the victims said most of their clients would prefer a criminal conviction to be reassured of a sufficient punishment. They were worried that if the court found Mr Breivik to be psychotic, there was a chance that he would be let out once he was cured. Legal professionals said this was unlikely but Mr Breivik’s case would come up for regular review.
Mr Breivik himself wants to be judged as legally competent. He pleaded not guilty and instructed his lawyers to demand that he be set free because he acted on a “principle of necessity”.
Many Norwegians are angry that Mr Breivik can use the proceedings as a way to put forward his extreme anti-Muslim views. His lawyer has warned that Mr Breivik may say he regrets “not having gone further”.
The accused is due to start testifying on Tuesday. He has requested permission from the court to read out prepared remarks for the first 30 minutes.
However, victims of the atrocity expressed satisfaction with the first day of Anders Behring Breivik’s trial for homicide and terrorism.
More
On this story
- Norwegians wary on eve of Breivik trial
- Extremist Norwegian killer declared sane
- Simon Kuper Let’s lose the religious labels
- In depth Norway massacre
- France faces homegrown terror
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IN Europe
The accused looked nervous but exhilarated when he appeared in the courtroom. Once handcuffs were removed, he performed a salute by taking his right fist to his heart before extending the arm.
After the presiding judge, Wenche Elizabeth Arntzen, offered Mr Breivik the opportunity to speak, the accused said he did not recognise the court, “because its mandate derives from parties that support multiculturalism, and because you [Ms Arntzen] are a friend of Hanne Harlem, sister of Gro Harlem Brundtland”, the former Labour prime minister of Norway.
His lawyer explained later that Mr Breivik thought he should be tried by a military tribunal.
Mr Breivik stared down while the prosecution read the indictment, including the name of each person killed and the manner of their death in Oslo and on the island of Utøya. Mr Breivik acknowledged the actions but pleaded not guilty to terror and murder charges, saying he was acting in self-defence.
The accused, who otherwise rarely betrayed emotion, shocked the audience by weeping in court as the state prosecutor, Svein Holden, screened a 12-minute ideological slideshow that Mr Breivik had uploaded to the internet just hours before he carried out his attacks. He smiled and chatted with his lawyers when the court adjourned shortly afterward.
One of the most gripping moments of the day came when Mr Holden played a recording of a girl’s emergency call to the police while she was hiding from Mr Breivik in a toilet.
“I’m so scared” she could be heard whispering, as loud shots sounded in the background.
The prosecutor also played two calls Mr Breivik made to the police to surrender, neither of which seems to have been followed up.
Controversy has marked the preparations for the trial. In dispute is whether Mr Breivik was psychotic at the time of the act, as a first psychiatric evaluation concluded. If the court agrees, the law would rule out a criminal conviction but Mr Breivik could be sentenced to compulsory psychiatric care.
A second evaluation made a different diagnosis, which would permit a criminal sentence of a jail term of up to 21 years or indefinite detention.
Mr Holden said prosecutors had not decided whether to demand a criminal conviction. His co-prosecutor, Inga Bejer Engh, suggested that they will not present proofs for or against an insanity defence, but let the evidence “cast light from all sides”.
Lawyers for the victims said most of their clients would prefer a criminal conviction to be reassured of a sufficient punishment. They were worried that if the court found Mr Breivik to be psychotic, there was a chance that he would be let out once he was cured. Legal professionals said this was unlikely but Mr Breivik’s case would come up for regular review.
Mr Breivik himself wants to be judged as legally competent. He pleaded not guilty and instructed his lawyers to demand that he be set free because he acted on a “principle of necessity”.
Many Norwegians are angry that Mr Breivik can use the proceedings as a way to put forward his extreme anti-Muslim views. His lawyer has warned that Mr Breivik may say he regrets “not having gone further”.
The accused is due to start testifying on Tuesday. He has requested permission from the court to read out prepared remarks for the first 30 minutes.
via Yahoo! News - Top Stories on 4/17/12
A citizen judge in the trial of confessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik was dismissed Tuesday for saying online that the anti-Muslim extremist deserves the death penalty for killing 77 people in a bomb-and-shooting massacre.
via Uploads by AFP by AFP on 4/16/12
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Right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik pleaded not guilty to charges he committed "acts of terror" when he massacred 77 people in twin attacks in Norway last July. Duration: 01:12
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via Yahoo! News - Top Stories on 4/17/12
OSLO (Reuters) - The Norwegian far-right gunman who massacred 77 people last summer gave a clenched-fist salute, smirked at the court and pleaded not guilty on the first day of a trial that threatens to turn into a "circus" showcasing his anti-Islamic views. Anders Behring Breivik, 33, has said he acted in defence of his country by setting off a car bomb that killed eight people at government headquarters in Oslo last July, then killing another 69 people in a shooting spree at a youth summer camp organised by the ruling Labour Party. ...
via Yahoo! News - Top Stories on 4/17/12
OSLO (Reuters) - The Norwegian far-right gunman who massacred 77 people last summer took to the stand for the first time on Tuesday at his trial, describing it as a sophisticated and spectacular attack. "I have carried out the most sophisticated and spectacular political attack committed in Europe since the Second World War," Anders Behring Breivik told the court, reading from a prepared statement. ...
via Yahoo! News - Top Stories on 4/17/12
OSLO (Reuters) - The court putting Norwegian killer Anders Behring Breivik on trial for massacring 77 people last year dismissed a lay judge on Tuesday after he posted a comment on a Facebook page saying the gunman should face the death penalty. The trial against Breivik began on Monday, with two professional judges, as well as three lay judges chosen from civil society, presiding over the court. After the killings last July, lay judge Thomas Indreboe posted "the death penalty is the only just outcome of this case" on a Facebook page. ...
via Yahoo! News - Top Stories on 4/17/12
Anders Behring Breivik on Tuesday defended his massacre of 77 people, insisting he would do it again and calling the bomb-and-shooting rampage the most "spectacular" attack by a nationalist militant since World War II.
via NYT > Global Home by By MARK LEWIS and ALAN COWELL on 4/17/12
Anders Behring Breivik took the stand for the first time on Tuesday, describing his killing of 77 people last year as a “sophisticated political act” and saying he would do it over again.
via NYT > Global Opinion by By ANDREW ROSENTHAL on 4/16/12
The Norwegian anti-Islamic militant will face a maximum sentence of 21 years. That's nothing, by American standards.
via NYT > Home Page by By MARK LEWIS and ALAN COWELL on 4/17/12
Anders Behring Breivik took the stand for the first time on Tuesday, describing his killing of 77 people last year as a “sophisticated political act” and saying he would do it over again.
