Norway killer’s lawyer Geir Lippestad defended neo-Nazi
Urbane, liberal and fluent in English, Mr Lippestad was shocked when he was contacted by police at home and told that Norway’s most hated man has asked for his help.
For several hours he hesitated and discussed with friends and family whether to defend a man who only hours early had massacred 68 young people on a summer holiday island.
But in the end his civic instincts trumped his initial horror. “I believe that the legal system is very important in a democracy and someone has to do this job,” he told reporters this afternoon.
There are two further twists to the relationship between killer and client. First, it was revealed Breivik had once rented an office close to where Mr Lippestad’s firm is based.
They lawyer said he had never met Breivik before the killing but it’s possible that the gunman knew who he was and singled him out long in advance.
Second, Mr Lippestad is also a prominent member of the ruling Labour Party, whose youth wing the terrorist targeted on Friday.
At one point he was deputy chair of the constituency party in Nordstrand, a borough of Oslo.