Anders Breivik trial, sanity question

21/06/2012

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The trial of mass killer Anders Breivik in Norway is in its final throes. The 10-week trial is due to end tomorrow, June 22, 2012. For the survivors of his horrific attack on July 22, 2011, the trial has been a necessary evil. They have faced Breivik across the court room stirring up terrible memories of that fateful day.

Breivik killed  77 people, including children, in the bomb and gun rampage he launched. Loved ones of  those who died have also endured being close to Breivik during the trial. All have said that they want justice for those who died.

Deciding just what that justice will be, is the remaining job of the court.

From the start of the trial determining Breivik's state of mind prior to the attack, during the attack and since has been paramount. The verdict of the trial in expected on one of two days, either in July or August.. The disputed issue is Brevik's state of mind. The prosecution are asking that he be declared insane. If the court agrees Breivik will be placed into compulsory psychiatric care. This will mean that he will not face criminal charges for his actions in attacking so many people. In other words he will not be held criminally resposible.

Many eople will claim such a verdict will offer Breivik a soft option. However it is one he deos not want.

Brevik has maintained a not guilty plea throughout the trial. His argument is that his actions were politically motivated. The judges at the trial will have to decide if he is insane or sane and then issue the appropriate sentence.

The Juky 22 massacre is the worst in Norway's peace time history.

Tomorrow June 22, 2012, Brevik's defense team will respond to the prosecution'sclaim that Breivik is insane.


Update: June 22, 2012, the trial ends.
Today Breivik has taken to the stand to protest his sanity. He has maintained yet again that,  "he acted to stop a Muslim invasion, and has asked to be considered sane and to be acquitted."  That statement alone in many people's minds shows how insane he is.

Around 30 people, the family members of Breivik's victims walked out in protest during his testimony. They have had to listen to gut wrenching details, of the murder of their loved ones, throughout this 10-week trial. Their stance today was that Breivik had the right to speak but they did not have to listen to him. They had heard all that was relevant already.

Brevik had to formally ask to be acquitted as he does not accept any guilt. However he talked for 45 minutes detailing his political extremism and hatred of many people. Much of today's evidence, including Breivik's plea statement was not broadcast.

The judges now face the task of deciding whether or not Brevik is sane. Their verdict will be revealed on August 24, 2012.
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Anders Breivik trial Norway, Day Five

20/04/2012

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As the week draws to a close the court in Oslo, Norway, has listened to further testimony by murderer Anders Breivik. It is Day Five in the trial which is gripping Norway. The killing of 77 people  in July 2011 remains unexplained.

Yesterday Breivik insisted that given the chance he would do it all again. He also said yesterday that he wanted to kill everyone on Utoya Island. Today, Friday April 20, 2012 he has slightly changed his stance.

Reporting from the trial the BBC said, "Anders Behring Breivik has described how he shot people who were "begging for their lives" during his island rampage in which dozens died last July.Testifying before an Oslo court, he described seeing people curled up and "completely paralysed" as he reloaded his weapon and shot them in the head. Earlier the 33-year-old said he was normally a nice person but had shut off his emotions to carry out the attacks."

The court is attempting to ascertain whether Breivik was sane when he carried out the murders or not. Certainly the above testimony hardly sounds like it came from a sane person. 

Today Breivik told the hushed court that he had a 100 voices in his head telling him not to carry out the murders. He told the court he did not want to carry out his established plan of action. He talked as if he had no choice in the matter and had been unable to resist. 

He described the killings saying, "Some of them are completely paralysed. They cannot run"  "Two people were curled up."He said he reloaded after running out of ammunition. "People were begging for their lives. I just shot them in the head."

He remained emotionless as he gave evidence but many people in the court were visibly moved and cried. Throughout his testimony Brevik appeared a confused and emotional wreck. He told the court he was able to feel sadness and how the death of a person he knew affected him badly. He maintained that he had carefully dehumanised himself long before the killings took place in order to carry them out.

He still insists that he is sane and acted out of political extremism. For most people those words alone though would signal insanity.

It seems that Anders Breivik had tried to get his point of view across in other ways before he went on a killing spree. He had lobbied politicians, joined political parties, become involved in Internet debate and more. None however to his mind had made a scrap of political difference. This led to him deciding on violence as the only way forward.

Utoya became the place where the majority of Breivik's victims were killed. Initially he had thought that the Oslo bombing would be his main attack. He had envisaged the building collapsing and it turning into a major disaster. As it was 8 people died in the city compared to 77 on the island of Utoya

The trial continues...

Tags: Utoya island, Norway, Oslo, Anders Breivik, mass murderer, killing spree,political extremism
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Norway trial Day Two, Breivik smugly has judge removed

17/04/2012

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The trial of mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik is dominating news reports across Europe and other parts of the world. The killing of 77 innocent people was carried out by Breivik, without a shadow of a doubt. The trial however is attempting to ascertain the man's state of mind at the time of the killings. Was he sane, a total madman, a calculated cold blooded killer, misguided or simply evil.

Today April 17, 2012 was the second day of what may become a lengthy trial. Beivik is loving his days in court. He obviously believes that he has the intelligence to be freed from all charges. He has done his research and smiles obnoxiously with each small triumph.

Today that triumph was managing to remove one of the judges from his trial. The male judge had at the time of the murders posted an online message saying that Breivik deserved the death penalty for what he had done. Anders smiled smugly as he won this point.

It will of course prove difficult if not impossible to guarantee Breivik a totally fair trial. The media attention in July 2011, when the murders took place, will have been viewed by most people. It always strikes this blogger as odd that someone who has no respect for the law of the land at all, wants to utilise it when deemed appropriate by themselves.

Breivik began today in court with his clenched fist salute. As soon as the cuffs were released he performed this action. Perhaps tomorrow they should leave the cuffs on and deny him this one small victory. His salute has been viewed as an almost Nazi salute to his extreme right wing brothers and sisters by some. For others it has been seen as an act of defiance. The same salute has been used in the past by those fighting for political freedom such as the black athletes in the 1968 Olympics. Be it purely defiance or Breivik's belief that he is fighting a political cause is unclear. It is after all a familiar left wing, anti fascist pose.

Today Anders told the court that what he did last year, that is the murders, was him "fighting a battle against multi-culturalism and acting out of "goodness, not evil".

SkyNews reporting from the court said Breivik, "Reading from a 13-page document that he wrote in custody, Anders Behring Breivik defended his massacre and called it the most "spectacular attack by a nationalist militant since World War Two".
He said he would repeat his actions again, if he could. "Yes, I would do it again," he said, adding that life in prison or dying for "his people" would be "the biggest honour".

At the core of his beliefs is racial purity. He beliefs in a white Norwegian race. He abhors mutli-culturalism. Breivik also claimed that other one man cells exist in Norway. On the stand Anders tried to turn his evidence into an excuse for a long meandering propaganda statement. The judge had to keep asking that he curtailed his offensive words and cut short his statements. Survivors and loved ones of the murdered, who were in court had a gruelling time.

Although his speech was researched and utilised history it was rambling. SkyNews reported,  "For many people, it was very surprising to hear how soft, almost nasal, his voice was. He didn't appear dangerous in any way."It was very hard to see that this softly spoken man is actually the person who murdered 77 people."

Isn't that the usual case though? 

It is going to be a long and costly trial and that's for sure.
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