THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Norwegian far-right extremist Anders Behring Breivik should be punished in prison for his brutal terror attacks last July, according to the killer's defence lawyer who pushed to overrule a recommendation that his his client should face "compulsory mental health care".The defence's closing argument began the last session of the gruelling 10-week trial in which the Nordic nation has tried to come to terms with the worst atrocity in its post-war history.
"It is not violence which lies behind his acts, but political extremism," defence lawyer Geir Lippestad argued at the end of a speech in which he sought a "more lenient standard of proof on the question of sanity", for a case he said was "without precedent".
"The accused always benefits from reasonable doubt. When the accused wishes to be punished, then what?" he asked
"If we consider basic human rights, beginning with the fact that the accused has a radical political project that makes his actions pathological, then we could deprive him of his basic human rights: the right to be responsible for one's actions."
An insanity ruling would come as a bitter disappointment to the 33-year-old in his battle to ensure that his anti-Islamic ideology is not written off as the rantings of a madman.
Breivik has described treatment in a mental hospital as “a fate worse than death” and “the ultimate humiliation”, and has considerably toned down his original rhetoric about the Knights Templar movement to sway the judges.
Many fear that the killer will use the closing speech in the trial to once again expound his radical views, arguing that he should be seen as a hero for the atrocities he committed. » | Richard Orange | Friday, June 22, 2012
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