Breivik Trial Awaits Prosecutors’ Stance on Sanity
The trial of Anders Behring Breivik in Oslo is waiting to hear whether prosecutors will ask for him to be sent to prison or into psychiatric care.
They have begun summing up their case, with their decision resting on whether they believe he was sane when he killed 77 people in Norway last year.
Conflicting psychiatric evaluations were presented earlier.
Breivik bombed government buildings in Oslo before shooting young Labour Party supporters at an island camp.
As well as killing 77 people, he injured 242.
Breivik sought to justify his attacks by saying they were necessary to stop the “Islamisation” of Norway.
The defence concludes on Friday, and a verdict is expected in July or August.
‘Killing machine’
One of the prosecutors, Svein Holden, said that under Norwegian law, reasonable doubt should benefit the defendant in cases of criminal guilt.
However, he asked whether that should also apply to the question of the defendant’s accountability.
Continue reading the main story
22 July attacks
8 people killed and 209 injured by bomb in Oslo
69 people killed on Utoeya island, of them 34 aged between 14 and 17
33 injured on Utoeya
Nearly 900 people affected by attacks
Norway attacks: The victims
How the attacks unfolded
Earlier on Thursday, Mr Holden’s colleague Inga Bejer Engh told the court it had always been the prosecution’s clear view that the case should be treated like any other criminal case.
“We must also accept this court will never find all the answers to our questions,” she added.
“How did he become this killing machine? How many did he try to kill on that day?”
Without a hint of regret, she said, Breivik had told the court how he had reloaded his gun while victims sat waiting for him to kill them on the island of Utoeya.
Breivik could be seen smiling at times as he listened to the prosecutor.