THE NORWEGIAN RIGHT-WING extremist on trial for killing 77 people in a double attack last summer says he will not appeal the Oslo court’s verdict if he is deemed sane.
Although Anders Behring Breivik has admitted carrying out the July 2011 attacks in Oslo and on nearby Utoya island, he denies criminal responsibility.
Eight people were killed when a car bomb exploded in Oslo on 22 July and 69 people attending a youth political camp on an island died during the shooting rampage.
Two psychological assessments have already been carried out on Breivik, but they reached different conclusions as to his sanity. If the court finds him insane, he faces compulsory committal to a psychiatric facility. If deemed sane, he could face 21 years in prison, though this term could be extended if a judge deems him to still be a threat to society at the end of that sentence.
At the end of the court proceedings today, Breivik said “if I’m found sane, I have no grounds to appeal.”
Speaking at the start of the trial, Breivik said he would carry out the attacks again and that he should be considered a national hero.
The court has heard graphic and emotional testimony from the survivors of the Utoya attack who described being seriously wounded and attempting to flee from the attacker. Some spoke of seeing their friends being shot dead and dying from injuries sustained in the effort to escape.
- Additional reporting by the AP
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