Packed courtroom
November 14, 2011
In the first public hearing of the man behind the July attacks in Norway that killed 77 people, the Oslo district courtroom was packed with journalists, victims' families, survivors and members of the general public.
On Monday, the court ruled that Anders Behring Breivik will remain in custody for 12 more weeks. His visits and correspondence are to be restricted for the first eight weeks and he will have no access to media for the first four weeks of the renewed detention period. His lawyer, Geir Lippestad, had asked that he be set free.
At the hearing, Judge Torkjel Nesheim also denied Breivik, 32, permission to address the families at the court and quickly interrupted the Norwegian right-wing extremist when he tried to declare himself a resistance leader.
"I am a military commander in a resistance movement," Breivik said in a calm voice before questioning the legitimacy of the court to try him.
Bloody rampage
Investigators say Breivik set off a fertilizer bomb outside Oslo government headquarters on July 22, killing eight people, before heading to the island of Utoya, where youth members of Norway's governing Labor Party were holding their annual summer camp.
Disguised as a police officer, he opened fire on scores of panicked youths, shooting some as they fled into the lake. Sixty-nine people were killed on the island before Breivik surrendered to police.
Breivik has confessed to the attacks but pleaded not guilty to terror charges, saying he was in a state of war to protect Europe from being taken over by Muslim immigrants. Investigators say they have found no evidence to support Breivik's claims that he belongs to a network of modern-day crusaders opposed to multiculturalism, and that others are ready to strike.
A new custody hearing is to be held in early February, while Breivik's trial is set to begin on April 16.
Author: Dagmar Breitenbach (AP, AFP)
Editor: Martin Kuebler