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Norway attacker defiant, rejects needs for psychiatric care

By Lennart Simonsson –

OSLO, Norway — Anders Behring Breivik, who has confessed to bombing and shooting attacks in Norway that claimed 77 lives last year, has made one thing clear during his trial: he does not think he is insane.

During the trial, which started in April, Breivik showed no remorse and has said that being ordered to psychiatric care is “the worst thing that a political activist can be subjected to.”

To many, the attacks were clearly the sign of a deranged mind, including the shooting of so many young political activists at a camp. But Breivik has rebutted that the actions of which he has been accused were the only logical way to lash out and punish a government he says has been too supportive of pro-immigration policies.

It doesn’t help that two separate psychiatric teams delivered two varying verdicts on Breivik’s sanity over the course of the last year.

Breivik’s behavior also has been erratic. At times he has calmly insisted to the court that he is not “irrational,” but wept when the court showed a propaganda video he made and distributed in connection with the attacks. He has, however, showed no emotion when survivors have testified of the suffering he inflicted upon them.

At other times, he has insisted on giving a confusing far-right-style salute, as he did Thursday after prosecutors argued he should be remanded to “compulsory mental health care” as he was legally insane.

“He felt it was important that his supporters saw his stance,” Tord Jordet, a member of Breivik’s defense team, said of the salute Breivik made Thursday.

Jordet told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that Breivik likely would appeal if he is sentenced to compulsory psychiatric care.

But prosecutors stood firm in their argument that Breivik needed to be institutionalized.

“The principle of reasonable doubt should be taken into account for the benefit of the defendant, to ensure that an innocent person is not convicted,” prosecutor Svein Holden said Thursday.

“In our view, it would be worse to sentence a psychotic (person) to preventive detention,” Holden added.

Should the court disagree with the prosecution’s argument and assessment of the law, Holden urged that Breivik be sentenced to 21 years in preventive detention.

To many others, the question of Breivik’s sanity is secondary, at best. The real need has been to make sure no further atrocities might happen — Breivik has said he could not rule out another attack if released, a possibility upon which both psychiatric teams agreed — and to try to understand why the crime had to happen in the first place.

During the proceedings, the country has been forced to relive the shock and horror of the July attacks. On Wednesday, two witnesses took the stand testifying of the loss of a son and a wife in the attacks.

Terje Ostbo, whose wife was out for an errand and died when the bomb went off in the Oslo government district, said he wanted Breivik “to burn in hell! I am not proud of it, but not ashamed either.”

Their testimony contributed to bring the trial back to center on the 77 killed and the hundreds affected by the attacks, prosecutor Inga Bejer Engh said in her closing statement.

Survivors have earlier testified about the terror they experienced during the shooting rampage.

Breivik has said he was defending Norway from being taken over by Muslims.

A survey of 1,000 people published Thursday suggested that three in four Norwegians want Breivik to be found accountable — meaning he should be sentenced to prison, said public broadcaster NRK that commissioned the survey.

Arguments will end Friday, when the defense will make its closing statement. A verdict is expected in July, at the earliest.

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