Survivors of the Utoya [sic] Massacre Fear the Rise of Norway’s Right and the End of the Multicultural Society They Treasure

THE INDEPENDENT: The next generation of the Labour Party worry that the immigration debate may turn nasty

They survived Anders Breivik’s deadly attack against the party he blamed for the “Islamisation” of Norway, but the three young Labour politicians elected this month worry that the multicultural society they treasure could now be under threat from the incoming right-wing government.

Elections last week ousted the Labour Party after eight years in power, with the victorious Conservative Party now crafting a coalition government which will for the first time include the anti-immigration Progress Party, which won 16 per cent of the vote.

Progress Party politicians insist they are not xenophobic, but during election campaigning the deputy party leader presented a paper which proposed halving the immigrant population and dramatically slashing the number of asylum seekers in Norway.

“The Progress Party has been very clear that they want to challenge international law and human rights regarding immigration,” said Stine Renate Håheim, 29, who survived Breivik’s slaughter on Utoya [sic] Island two years ago by leaping into the cold fjord. “If the Progress Party is included in the government it will be the most right-wing government in Europe and that frightens at least me.” » | Charlotte McDonald-Gibson | Friday, September 13, 2013

Breivik Will Not Appeal Sentence, Sorry He Did Not Kill More
Norwegian mass killer Anders Breivik has been declared sane and jailed for 21 years for murdering 77 people in July last year. He also used the sentencing as a chance to express regret that he didn't kill more people that day. Al Jazeera's Paul Brennan reports from Oslo.

Anders Behring Breivik's 21-year Jail Term Closes Norway's Darkest Chapter

THE GUARDIAN: Calls for debate on multiculturalism as far right extremist is sentenced for killing 77 in twin attacks on Utøya island and Oslo

The darkest chapter in Norway's recent history came to a close, as judges delivered a sentence that is likely to see Anders Behring Breivik spend the rest of his life in prison, before they read out harrowing accounts of the gun and bomb attacks he perpetrated last year.

An Oslo court found that Breivik, whose twin assaults killed 77 people, was sane – the verdict that he and most Norwegians had wanted.

The conclusion of Norway's most high-profile judicial case for decades provoked immediate calls for the country to engage in a more rounded and open debate on multiculturalism.

Survivors and relatives welcomed the court's decision, saying they were now able to move on with their lives, 13 months after Breivik detonated a bomb in Oslo and embarked on a shooting rampage on Utøya island. More than half of those shot were teenagers.

The 33-year-old, who had earlier admitted the attacks that traumatised the peaceful country, smirked as the court's verdict was delivered. He was given the maximum sentence of 21 years, but with a "preventive detention" clause that means his time in jail can be extended as long as he is deemed a threat to society. It is unlikely he will ever be released.

In a final parting shot, clearly designed to offend, Breivik used his chance to address the court by apologising to "militant nationalists" across Europe, apparently for not killing more people during his two attacks. » | Mark Townsend in Oslo | Friday, August 24, 2012

Breivik Verdict: Mass-murderer Declared Sane and Sentenced to 21 Years
THE GUARDIAN: Court decides confessed killer was not psychotic when he went on rampage in Oslo that left 77 people dead

Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian far-right extremist, has been sentenced to at least 21 years in prison after a court declared he was sane throughout his murderous rampage last year that killed 77 people.

The Oslo district court declared its verdict that the 33-year-old was not psychotic while carrying out the twin attacks, including the shooting of dozens of teenagers attending a political camp.

The court's decision will have delighted Breivik, who had hoped to avoid what he called the "humiliation" of being dismissed as a madman.

The mass-killer had desperately hoped the court would find him criminally culpable for the killings, claiming they were "cruel and necessary" to protect Norway from becoming overrun by Muslims. » | Mark Townsend | Friday, August 24, 2012

Video: Victims describe their loss »

Anders Behring Breivik: Urteil fällt am Freitag

Norway Remembers Victims of Massacre One Year On
In Norway, memorial services have been taking place to commemorate the victims of last year's massacre. Eight people were killed by a bomb blast at government headquarters there, and a further 69 were shot dead at a youth camp on Utoeya Island. From Oslo Barnaby Philips reports.

Breivik Took Stimulants Before Massacre - Expert
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Anders Breivik took illegal substances to increase his physical and mental capacities on the day he launched a killing spree last July, an expert told an Oslo court on Thursday.

Before he launched his July 22 bomb attac[k] on a government building in Oslo and went on a shooting rampage on Utoeya island, Breivik said he had taken an an ECA stack, a combination of ephedrine, caffeine and aspirin.

This mix is illegal in Norway and the United States among other countries but is popular among body-builders and is often used for weight loss and as a stimulant.

"He was slightly to moderately under the influence of a high affecting the central nervous system," Professor Joerg Moerland of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health told the Oslo district court on the 28th day of Breivik's trial.

The 33-year-old right-wing extremist has said he took 50 percent more than the normal ECA stack dose authorised in the European Union only a few hours before his attacks.

Breivik has told the court the drug cocktail allows "the brain to absorb more oxygen and this results in better physical and mental performance." » | Thursday, May 31, 2012

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