Multiple killer Anders Behring Breivik appears bent on turning a Norwegian court into a “circus” show for his political views when he goes on trial today for bombing and shooting 77 people to death.
The trial is likely to reopen wounds in the traditionally tolerant and tranquil nation.
The facts of the case will hardly be at issue: Breivik has proudly admitted bombing the government’s headquarters in Oslo last July, killing eight people, before gunning down 69 people, mostly teenagers, at a summer camp of the ruling Labour Party.
Nevertheless, the “lone wolf” killer intends to deny criminal guilt and subject the country to a trial scheduled to last 10 weeks, during which the court must rule on both his guilt and his sanity. “Not only will he explain , but he will also say he regrets that he didn’t go further,” said Geir Lippestad, Breivik’s defence attorney.
Some Norwegians fear Breivik will succeed in making the trial, with about 800 journalists on hand, a platform for anti-immigrant ideas. “It is an unfortunate side-effect that this provides him a microphone for his ideology,” said Atle Dyregrov, the director for the Centre for Crisis Psychology. It would, he said, “bring back a lot of pain” for those who lost loved ones. – (Reuters)