In Norway, Muslim Leaders Say Breivik Trial Should Focus on Gunman’s Anti-Islamic Ideology
THE WASHINGTON POST: OSLO, Norway — Muslim leaders in Norway say they are concerned that the anti-Islamic ideology of Anders Behring Breivik, the far-right fanatic now on trial for killing 77 people, is being overshadowed by questions about his mental state.

The self-described anti-Muslim militant shocked Norway on July 22 with a bombing and shooting rampage targeting the government headquarters and the Labor Party’s annual youth camp. Since he has admitted to the attacks, the key issue for the trial is to determine whether Breivik is sane enough to be held criminally responsible.

“I’m not a psychiatrist, but what is important is what he has done. That should be the focus, not how crazy he is,” said Mehtab Afsar, head of the Islamic Council in Norway, an umbrella organization of Muslim groups in the country.

“He wants to get rid of Muslims and Islam from Europe. That is his main message. So I don’t see the point of using so much energy on is he normal, is he insane?” Afsar told The Associated Press.

Breivik has told the court his victims had betrayed Norway by opening the country to immigration. He called for a “patriotic” revolution aimed at deporting Muslims from Europe. » | Associated Press | Saturday, April 28, 2012

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Breivik Visited Malta for ‘Historical Research’

TIMES OF MALTA: Breivik shot ‘several films’ in Malta

Norwegian terrorist mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik visited Malta with his mother in 2004 to conduct “historic research” for his manifesto but told the police he never made any permanent contacts on the island.

The visit came 10 days after Mr Breivik’s 25th birthday, The Times has learnt.

Mr Breivik – who is currently standing trial for killing 77 people at a summer camp organised by the ruling Labour party – gave details about his trip to the island to the Norwegian police when he was interrogated.

This is the first time details of his visit have emerged. In his manifesto, the anti-Muslim funda-mentalist listed 24 countries he had visited, including “exotic” destinations like Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Liberia, China, Mexico, Cyprus and Malta.

When the police asked him about his trip to Malta, Mr Breivik initially said he did not remember his stay on the island.

However, when the police quoted flight records showing he landed on February 23, 2004, Mr Breivik confirmed this was a week-long holiday with his mother. » | Christian Peregin | Monday, April 30, 2012

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Experts: Norway Mass Killer Anders Behring Breivik Likely Not Insane Despite Committing Deadly Bomb-and-shooting Rampage

CBS NEWS: (AP) LONDON - Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik is insisting in court that attempts to label him as insane are misplaced — and some psychiatrists agree that simply committing such monstrous crimes does not mean a person is mentally ill.

The far-right, anti-Islam Breivik has already confessed to committing Norway's worst mass murder in a bomb-and-shooting rampage that killed 77 people last July. Whether or not Breivik is sane is at the crux of his ongoing trial and will determine how he is sentenced.

"Everyone's first assumption is that Breivik must be insane because he's done such terrible things," said Dr. Simon Wessely, of the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London. "But it doesn't automatically follow that he must be mad just because what he has done is inexplicable."

In a commentary published Friday in the British medical journal Lancet, Wessely writes that explanation is too simplistic.

For the 33-year-old Norwegian to be schizophrenic — as some psychiatrists have suggested — his actions would have to be the result of delusions, or based on beliefs not shared by others.

"As ghastly as his views are, there are other people in society who believe countries are being destroyed by multiculturalism and Islam," Wessely said.

Breivik's extraordinarily well-organized and methodical massacre also undermines the idea that he was suffering from a serious mental illness.

"It doesn't tally with the kinds of disorganized crimes usually committed by people with mental health problems," Wessely said. » | AP | Friday, April 27, 2012

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Breivik Case Shows Insanity 'Misconceptions'

Read the article here | Friday, April 27, 2012
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Breivik’s Sanity: Norway Psychiatrists at Odds
BBC: A new report by forensic psychiatrists Agnar Aspaas and Terje Toerrissen has concluded that mass killer Anders Behring Breivik is sane: that neither at the time of crime nor during their assessment was he psychotic.

In their opinion, he does not suffer from any serious psychiatric conditions.

Many Norwegians will feel relieved at their conclusion because of a widespread belief that Breivik should be held to account for his crimes by being sent to prison, and not to a psychiatric institution.

The latter would almost certainly have been the outcome had this second report agreed with the previous one, which deemed Breivik insane.

"Looking at his actions it is difficult to understand how he can be sane," one Norwegian told the BBC News website. "But at least he can now be sent to prison where he is highly unlikely to be released any time soon."

However, the verdict of the case is far from given. With two conflicting reports, psychiatric issues are sure to become a dominant issue during the proceedings. » | Liss Goril Anda | Norway | Tuesday, April 10, 2012

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Norwegians Heckle Mass Killer Anders Breivik with Pete Seeger Children's Song

CBS NEWS: OSLO, Norway - Facing terror with music, tens of thousands gathered in squares across Norway to sing a children's song that gunman Anders Behring Breivik claimed is being used to brainwash young Norwegians.

The defiant Facebook protest against the right-wing fanatic took place as survivors gave tearful testimony Thursday in his trial for the July 22 bombing-and-shooting rampage that killed 77 people, mostly teenagers.

Some 40,000 people converged at a central square in Oslo in the pouring rain to sing the 1970's song "Children of the Rainbow" -- a Norwegian version of American folk music singer Pete Seeger's "Rainbow Race."

Singer Lillebjorn Nilsen, who popularized the song in Norway, led the protesters in singing through both the Norwegian and English versions, according to the English-language website Views and News from Norway (Watch video).

Later they were to lay roses on the steps of the courthouse in memory of those killed in the massacre.

In testimony last week, Breivik mentioned the song as an example of how he believes "cultural Marxists" have infiltrated Norwegian schools, triggering a Facebook intiative for Thursday's protests.

Shocked by Breivik's lack of remorse for his massacre, Norwegians by and large have decided the best way to confront him is by demonstrating their commitment to everything he loathes. » | CBS/AP | Thursday, April 26, 2012

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Thousands of Norwegians to Sing Song Breivik Hates
AFP: OSLO — Thousands of Norwegians were to gather in Oslo on Thursday to protest against mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik by singing a folk song he hates and which he considers a Marxist indoctrination method.

After an Internet campaign, more than 5,000 people have said they plan to meet at a square near the Oslo courthouse where Breivik is currently on trial for his July 22 attacks that killed 77 people, to sing "Children of the Rainbow" by Norwegian folk singer Lillebjoern Nilsen.

Nilsen and the culture ministers of all five Nordic countries -- Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland -- have also said they would be at the square to participate in the sing-a-long. Other similar events were to take place across Norway.

Breivik, a 33-year-old right-wing extremist, last Friday told the court that Nilsen was "a very good example of a Marxist" who had infiltrated the cultural scene and that his song was typical of the "brainwashing of Norwegian pupils." » | AFP | Thursday, April 26, 2012

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Breivik's Publicity at Trial Just What He Wanted

HOUSTON CHRONICLE: WARSAW, Poland (AP) — As Anders Behring Breivik has given shocking and remorseless accounts to a Norwegian court of how he massacred 77 people, his testimony has revived a debate about how much of a public platform mass-murderers should be given in trials.

Such atrocities, after all, are often waged for attention and carried out in the name of political or religious goals, and a trial gives perpetrators more of what they crave: a huge audience.

In the worst case, there is a risk that Breivik's trial, during which he has raised a right-wing salute and gloated over his killing rampage, could spawn copycat crimes by others who share his hatred of Muslims.

"There is a contagion effect that one has to take into consideration," said Brigitte Nacos, a Columbia University professor who studies terrorism and the mass media. » | Vanessa Gera, Associated Press | Wednesday, April 25, 2012

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Anders Behring Breivik: Psychiatric Report Was Based on Evil Fabrications

THE GUARDIAN: Norwegian gunman says initial report, which declared him insane, was intended to portray him as irrational

Anders Behring Breivik has said a psychiatric report that declared him insane was based on "evil fabrications" and meant to portray him as irrational and unintelligent.

"It is not me who is described in that report," the rightwing extremist, who admits killing 77 people in bombing and shooting attacks on 22 July 2011, said in court.

A second psychiatric examination found Breivik sane. The panel of five judges trying Breivik on terror charges for the attacks will consider both reports.

Breivik admits to the bombing of a government district in Oslo that killed eight people and subsequent shootings at a Labour party youth camp that left 69 people dead, most of them teenagers. He claims the attacks were "necessary" and that the victims had betrayed Norway by embracing immigration.

If found guilty, Breivik would face 21 years in prison, though he can be held longer if deemed a danger to society. If declared insane, he would be committed to compulsory psychiatric care.

After listening to testimony describing the horrific injuries of the bombing victims, Breivik showed no remorse, saying if anyone should apologise it was the governing Labour party.

He said he had hoped it would change its policy on immigration after his attacks.

"But instead they continue in the same direction, so the grounds for struggle are unfortunately even more relevant now than before 22 July," Breivik said. » | Associated Press in Oslo | Wednesday, April 25, 2012

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Mass-killer Breivik Rails at 'Racist' Slur on Sanity

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: NORWEGIAN self-confessed mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik has told a court that questioning his mental health amounted to ''racism'' aimed at delegitimising his extreme anti-Islamic views.

Breivik, who confessed to killing 77 people last year in shooting and bombing attacks, said had he been a ''bearded jihadist'', his mental health would not be questioned.

''If I had been a bearded jihadist, there would not have been a forensic psychiatric report at all,'' he said. ''But since I am a militant nationalist, I am subjected to gross racism. They are trying to delegitimise everything I stand for.''

Breivik, 33, maintains he is sane and wants to be either acquitted or handed the death penalty for killing eight people in a bombing attack outside government headquarters in Oslo and shooting dead 69 in a rampage on an island outside the capital.

Breivik said he targeted the youth summer camp run by the ruling Labour Party on Utoya island because of its pro-immigration policies, which he said are a threat to Norway. » | Wednesday, April 25, 2012

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Breivik Hears Witnesses Recall Turmoil After Blast

SEATTLE POST INTELLIGENCER: OSLO, Norway (AP) — After testifying for five days, Anders Behring Breivik listened silently Tuesday as others described the mayhem caused by his bombing of Oslo's government district, a scene one witness described as a "war zone."

Forensic experts explained the massive injuries to four of the eight victims killed by the 950-kg (2,100-pound) fertilizer bomb on July 22. Breivik admits to the bombing and a subsequent shooting massacre at a Labor Party youth camp that left 69 people dead, most of them teenagers.

"More than 100 body parts were found in the government district," said Ole Morten Stoerseth, a police official tasked with identifying the blast victims.

Relatives of those killed sobbed and embraced during the autopsy presentations. Pictures of the victims' injuries were not shown in court but distributed to the judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers as well as the psychiatrists who are examining Breivik during the trial.

Breivik claims the attacks were "necessary" and that the victims had betrayed Norway by embracing immigration.

As he has for most of the trial, now in its seventh day, the far-right fanatic remained mostly expressionless during the hearing Tuesday. But he smiled when a security guard, who was inside the government high-rise when the bomb exploded, called Breivik's motive for the attacks "totally absurd." » | Karl Ritter, Associated Press | Tuesday, April 24, 2012

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Anders Behring Breivik On Trial: A Roundup of Global Opinion
THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: Anders Behring Breivik is standing trial for the killing of 77 people in dual terror attacks last summer in Norway. The trial has garnered international attention due to the scale of those attacks, Mr. Breivik's unusual manifesto, and the deliberations over his sanity. Here is a roundup of opinions on the trial and the attention it has received from Norway, Europe, Australia, and the US. » | Whitney Eulich, Staff Writer | Undated

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In Breivik's "War Zone" Luton, Fear - and Scorn
REUTERS.COM: Shouting taunts and trading expletives, a Muslim teenager and the leader of Britain's most prominent anti-Islam nationalist group are seconds from a fight.

"Why are you talking to this racist?" the youth asks a reporter walking with English Defense League leader Stephen Lennon in Luton, the British town cited as "war zone" with Islam by Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik at his trial.

As a group of Muslim youngsters surrounds Lennon, another starts a heated discussion with him about Islamic religious law.

Onlookers, fearful of trouble, peer out from down-at-heel shops in this small city in rural Bedfordshire, 35 miles north of London, where the industries that once drew in large numbers of Asian immigrant workers have seen better days.

The goading turns out to be bluster and Lennon leaves, unscathed but with abuse ringing in his ears. "This is what I've been telling you about," he said as he walked off, arguing there were parts of Luton where non-Muslims could no longer venture.

Breivik, justifying killing 77 people as part of a war to halt a Muslim takeover in Europe, has cited Luton, which he does not appear to have visited despite travelling to London some years ago, as a place of strife, fear and "Muslim no-go areas".

"Look at places like Luton, or other war-like zones in Europe," he said during his trial in Oslo last week. "Other militants and I in Europe are trying to prevent a civil war in Europe which would cause many more deaths."

While Lennon, who founded the EDL in the town three years ago, has been at pains to distance himself from the confessed killer - he called Breivik a "nutter" - he does recognize his description of Luton, even if others in the city do not.

"Luton is a blueprint for every other town in the country if people don't wake up," said the 29-year-old Lennon, who also calls himself Tommy Robinson, the name of a once feared leader of hooligan followers of the local soccer team Luton Town.

"People are just fed up," he said, warning that an attack similar to the Breivik killings in Britain was becoming likely. » | Michael Holden | Reuters | Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Alastair Macdonald | Monday, April 23, 2012

THE GUARDIAN: Five arrested in Luton anti-terror raids: Police take four men in their 20s and one aged 30 to central London for questioning in 'intelligence-led' operation » | Press Association | Tuesday, April 24, 2012

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Trial Sharpens Focus on Breivik's Mental State
ASSOCIATED PRESS: OSLO, Norway (AP) — Confessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik vehemently defended his sanity after a forensic panel found flaws in a psychiatric report that declared him sane in the eyes of the law.

As the trial for Breivik's bomb-and-shooting rampage that killed 77 people entered its second week, the far-right fanatic told a court that he was the victim of a "racist" plot to discredit his ideology. He said no one would have questioned his sanity if he were a "bearded jihadist."

"I know I'm at risk of ending up at an insane asylum, and I'm going to do what I can to avoid that," Breivik said.

Two psychiatric examinations conducted before the trial reached opposite conclusions on whether Breivik is psychotic — the key issue to be resolved during the trial, since the 33-year-old Norwegian had admitted to the deadly attacks.

But the second of those reports, which found him sane, has not yet been approved by the Norwegian Board of Forensic Medicine. On Monday, the panel highlighted several shortcomings in that assessment, and requested additional information from the two psychiatrists who wrote it.

In particular, the forensic board said it could not be established whether Breivik had adjusted his behavior during the examination as part of a strategy to be declared mentally competent.

Paal Groendahl, a forensic psychologist who is not involved with the case but has followed the trial in court, said the panel's queries underscore the difficulty in assessing Breivik's state of mind.

"I don't think it's any closer to being resolved," he said. » | Julia Gronnevet | Associated Press | Tuesday, April 24, 2012

THE GUARDIAN: Anders Behring Breivik says questions over sanity part of plot to discredit him: Killer tells court he would do anything to avoid being sent to a mental hospital, and gives fresh details of shootings » | Luke Harding and agencies in Oslo | Monday, April 23, 2012

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Breivik trial: Live updates »

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Former BBC Journalist Compares Breivik to Netanyahu
THE JERUSALEM POST: Jerusalem dismisses comment as "another nutty statement from another nutty Israel basher."

LONDON – A former BBC correspondent turned anti-Israel activist compared Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu with Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik, currently on trial for murdering 77 innocent people in a terror attack last July.

In an article last Thursday on his website titled “What do Breivik and Netanyahu have in common?” Alan Hart – a former BBC and ITN correspondent – concluded by saying that the mass killer and Israel’s prime minister both share “the mania of victimhood.”

The activist wrote that the main thing Breivik and Netanyahu have in common comes from them both “living in fantasy worlds of their own creation” and talking “a lot of extreme right-wing nonsense.”

From this he concluded that Norway’s mass killer and Netanyahu both suffer from what he called “the mania of victimhood.”

“The nonsense Breivik speaks is driven in general by his fears about the consequences for Norway of immigration and multiculturalism and, in particular, by his vision of an Islamic takeover,” Hart maintained.

He then stated that the “nonsense” Netanyahu speaks is driven by his perception of Israel in danger of annihilation. » | Jonny Paul, Jerusalem Post Correspondent | Herb Keinon contributed to this report | Sunday, April 22, 2012

Norway Killer Anders Behring Breivik Claims There Is a 'Racist Plot' to Discredit Him as Insane

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Mass killer Anders Behring Breivik told a court questions about his mental health are part of a "racist plot" to discredit his extreme anti-Muslim ideology.

Breivik, who has admitted to killing 77 people in a bombing and youth camp massacre, said that no one would have asked for a psychiatric examination had he been a "bearded jihadist."

"But because I am a militant nationalist, I am being subjected to grave racism," he said. "They are trying to delegitimize everything I stand for."

Breivik rejects criminal guilt for the rampage on July 22, saying the victims had betrayed their country by embracing immigration.

Even the defense admits there is virtually no chance of an acquittal, so the key issue to be determined in the trial is whether Breivik is criminally insane.

Two psychiatric examinations reached opposite conclusions on that point. In a statement to the court, the Norwegian Board of Forensic Medicine asked for additional information from two pscyhiatrists who found Breivik sane, saying their report was incomplete.

Breivik himself insists he is sane, and accuses the prosecutors of trying to make him look irrational.

"I know I'm at risk of ending up at an insane asylum, and I'm going to do what I can to avoid that," he told the court. » | Source: AP | Monday, April 23, 2012

Breivik in the dock: Day six as it happened »

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Breivik Compares Grief of Victims' Families to His Pain at Being Shunned

THE GUARDIAN: Anders Behring Breivik tells Oslo court on his last day of evidence that he lost contact with friends and family after attacks

Anders Behring Breivik has compared the pain he caused the families of his victims to his own situation, saying he lost contact with his friends and family after the 22 July attacks.

The 33-year-old rightwing extremist, who has admitted killing 77 people last summer, showed no remorse on Monday as he continued his shocking testimony about the massacre at the annual youth camp of the governing Labour party.

Calling the rampage "necessary", Breivik compared being shunned by those close to him to the grief of the bereaved. "The only difference was that for my part it was a choice," he said. » | Associated Press in Oslo | Monday, April 23, 2012

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Inga Bejer Engh: Norway's Truth-seeker in Anders Breivik Case

THE INDEPENDENT: The lead prosecutor in the case against Anders Breivik is calmly setting out to prove that the man who killed 77 people must be insane

When Norway's biggest ever murder trial opened in Oslo last Monday, Anders Behring Breivik marched into the courtroom and shot his right arm out in a disturbing yet rather pathetic clenched-fist Nazi-style salute.

Inga Bejer Engh's reaction was typical: her blond hair swinging above the white necktie and black gown worn by prosecution lawyers, she stood up, walked forward and in an utterly disarming gesture, shook hands with the killer. He responded with a weak smile.

Blue-eyed and doll-like, Bejer Engh looks almost too unworldly to be leading the prosecution case against the man who carried out one of Europe's worst acts of violence since the Second World War. It is an appearance that deceives. Behind the state prosecutor's cool facade there is clearly a woman driven by an iron conviction in the Scandinavian approach to crime and punishment so often derided by outsiders as "too lenient".

In comments before the trial, Bejer Engh let it be known that she was proud to be part of the prosecution team. "It will give me an opportunity to show our humane system of justice to the rest of the world," she told reporters. » | Tony Paterson | Saturday, April 21, 2012

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Anders Behring Breivik se décrit comme une personne sympathique
REUTERS FRANCE: OSLO (Reuters) - Anders Behring Breivik, jugé à Oslo pour le meurtre de 77 personnes le 22 juillet 2011, s'est décrit vendredi comme une "personne sympathique" et a expliqué avoir appris à refouler ses émotions avant de pouvoir passer à l'acte.

Le militant d'extrême droite islamophobe de 33 ans a reconnu avoir tué huit personnes à Oslo dans un attentat à la voiture piégée et 69 jeunes gens réunis dans un camp d'été des jeunesses travaillistes sur l'île d'Utoya.

Au cinquième jour de son procès, il est revenu sur les circonstances de la tuerie, fournissant des détails sur son parcours meurtrier, traquant ses victimes jusque dans le lac entourant l'île.

Face à un public glacé d'effroi, Breivik a expliqué avoir tiré à plusieurs reprises sur ses victimes: une première balle pour les neutraliser et une seconde dans la tête.

"Ça a été extrêmement difficile de tirer la première balle, c'est contraire à la nature humaine. Mais (une fois cette première balle tirée), c'est devenu plus facile", a-t-il dit. » | par Victoria Klesty et Walter Gibbs | vendredi 20 avril 2012

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Analysis: Don't Pin Breivik's Massacre on Video Games

REUTERS.COM: That Anders Breivik was a regular player of violent video games does not explain why the Norwegian became the calm killer of 77 mostly young people, many of whom would have shared his gaming passion.

An obsession with games such as "World of Warcraft" might seem a plausible explanation for why the apparently unremarkable 33-year-old, now on trial for murder in Oslo, came to carry out the shooting spree and bomb attack last July, but it is a dangerous simplification driven by our need to understand.

"People want an answer for why these thing happen. That's completely understandable," said Seena Fazel, a consultant forensic psychiatrist at Britain's University of Oxford. "That's also why mental illness is often an attractive avenue, because it does seem to provide some sort of answer."

The motive, in part, is to understand what distinguishes a mass killer from the rest of us, experts say. Breivik's game-playing, however, doesn't do that. » | Kate Kelland | LONDON | Friday, April 20, 2012

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