Norway rules mass killer Breivik sane

24/08/2012| IslamWeb

A Norwegian court has found that Anders Behring Breivik is sane and criminally responsible for the murder of 77 people in a gun and bomb massacre last year, sending him to jail for 21 years and dismissing the prosecution's request for an insane verdict.

Breivik, who was sentenced on Friday, has admitted detonating a fertilizer bomb outside government headquarters, killing eight, before shooting 69 at the ruling party's summer youth camp.

Al Jazeera correspondent Paul Brennan, reporting from Oslo, said that Breivik's sentence could be extended,
"He will be put into a prison and will be kept in a prison until he is judged to be no danger to the public," Brennan said.

Many survivors and families of the victims wanted a sane verdict, saying the opposite would diminish his responsibility for the attacks.

"It puts a context that Norwegian people feel far more comfortable about. That this wasn't just the act of a single madman, it was a politically motivated act," he said.

Breivik said he targeted the ruling centre-left Labor Party for its support of Muslim immigration. He dismissed being called a child murderer, arguing that his victims, some as young as 14, were brainwashed activists whose support for multiculturalism threatened to adulterate pure Norwegian blood.

Breivik himself had argued for the sane verdict as he wanted the attack to be seen as a political statement.

For many Norwegians, still shocked by their bloodiest day since World War II, the details were academic, however.

"He is getting what he deserves," said Alexandra Peltre, 18, whom Breivik shot in the thigh on Utoeya.

"This is karma striking back at him. I do not care if he is insane or not, as long as he gets the punishment that he deserves."

'Tough year'

Guilt has never been a question in the trial as Breivik described in chilling detail how he hunted down his victims, some as young as 14, with a shot to the body then one or more bullets to the head.

The killings shook this nation of five million people which had prided itself as a safe haven from much of the world's troubles, raising questions about the prevalence of far right views as immigration rises.

The trial and a commission of investigation into the country's worst violence since World War II have kept Breivik on the front pages for the past 13 months and survivors said the verdict would finally bring some closure.

"It has been a tough year ... but I don't want to be Utoeya-Nicoline for the rest of my life," said Nicoline Bjerge Schie, a survivor of the shooting.

Dressed in a black suit with a tie and still sporting the under-chin beard familiar from the 10 weeks of hearings that ended in June, Breivik smirked when he entered the courtroom and gave his now familiar, far-right salute when his handcuffs were removed. He smiled again as the judge read out the verdict.

He will not appeal, his lawyer said. "He told me he will accept this verdict," Geir Lippestad told Reuters news agency.

PHOTO CAPTION

Self-confessed mass murderer Anders Behring Brevik salutes as he arrives in court to hear the verdict in his trial.

Al-Jazeera