OSLO — Geir Lippestad will definitely cause some controversy with the approach he plans to take in the upcoming trial of Anders Breivik, Norway's infamous extreme-right terrorist. For starters, Lippestad, Breivik's defense attorney, intends to place Mullah Krekar — an Islamist extremist from Kurdish Iraq who has been living in Norway since 1991— on the witness stand.
In an interview with Le Monde, Lippestad outlined his strategy for this exceptional trial, which is scheduled to begin April 16, less than eight months after the double attack on July 22, 2011, in which 77 people died. The majority of the victims were attending a summer camp hosted by the youth wing of the governing Social Democratic party.
This trial has seriously challenged Lippestad's beliefs as both a support[er] of the Social Democrats and a father of eight children. "I feel I have lost my soul in this case," he said. "I hope to get it back once all this is over, and that it will be in the same state as before."
Unlike all of Lippestad's previous clients, Anders Breivik is not afraid of being found guilty. The possibility of receiving Norway's maximum penalty (21 years in prison) doesn't scare him — on the contrary, he wants it. » | Olivier Truc / Le Monde / Worldcrunch | Thursday, March 29, 2012
