Defense rebuts insanity claim in Breivik trial
On the last day of his trial, Anders Behring Breivik’s defense lawyers on Friday tried to cast the confessed mass killer as a political militant motivated by an extreme right-wing ideology rather than a delusional madman who killed 77 people for the sake of killing.
Since Breivik has admitted to the bomb-and-gun attacks on July 22, the self-styled anti-Muslim militant’s mental state has been the key focus of the 10-week trial.
Nevertheless, Breivik’s defense lawyer Geir Lippestad requested that the 32-year-old Norwegian be acquitted or given the mildest possible prison term for the country’s worst peacetime massacre. The plea for acquittal was made out of principle, without any realistic chance of success: Breivik claims he acted in defense of his nation and that the killings were therefore justified.