ASSOCIATED PRESS: OSLO, Norway (AP) — A right-wing fanatic admitted Monday to unleashing a bomb-and-shooting massacre that killed 77 people in Norway but pleaded not guilty to criminal charges, saying he was acting in self-defense.
On the first day of his long-awaited trial, Anders Behring Breivik defiantly rejected the authority of the court as it sought to assign responsibility for the July 22 attacks that shocked Norway and jolted the image of terrorism in Europe.
Dressed in a dark suit and sporting a thin beard, Breivik smiled as a guard removed his handcuffs in the crowded court room. The 33-year-old then flashed a closed-fist salute, before shaking hands with prosecutors and court officials.
"I don't recognize Norwegian courts because you get your mandate from the Norwegian political parties who support multiculturalism," Breivik said in his first comments to the court.
Eight people were killed in Breivik's bombing of Oslo's government district and 69 others were slain in his shooting massacre at the left-leaning Labor Party's youth camp on Utoya island outside the capital.
"I admit to the acts, but not criminal guilt," he told the court, insisting he had acted in self-defense.
He remained stone-faced and motionless as prosecutors read the indictment on terror and murder charges, with descriptions of how each victim died, and when they explained how he prepared for the attacks.
But he suddenly became emotional when prosecutors showed an anti-Muslim video that he had posted on YouTube before the killing spree, wiping away tears with trembling hands. » | Karl Ritter | AP | Associated Press writers Bjoern H. Amland and Julia Gronnevet contributed to this report. | Monday, April 16, 2012
Anders Behring Breivik trial: indictment in full »
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Breivik beruft sich auf Notwehr: Mit überheblicher Miene sitzt der Angeklagte im Gericht: Zum Prozessauftakt gegen Anders Breivik hat die Staatsanwaltschaft den Werdegang des Attentäters nachgezeichnet - der beruft sich auf Notwehr. Als ein von ihm produzierter Film vorgeführt wurde, brach der Massenmörder in Tränen aus. » | ulz/siu | Montag, 16. April 2012
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