May 9, 2012

Anders Breivik Showed Joy At Norway Massacre Scene

The trial of Anders Behring Breivik has begun hearing the first testimony from survivors of the massacre he carried out on the Norwegian island of Utoeya, in which 69 people died last July.

Wednesday's first witness, Tonje Brenna, described scenes of panic, as well as "sounds of joy" from Breivik.

Breivik admits killing a total of 77 people in the Utoeya attack and a bombing in Oslo, both on 22 July 2012.

But he denies criminal responsibility, saying he acted in self-defence.

Breivik says he was fighting to defend Norway from multiculturalism and immigration.

He claims that the Labour Party youth meeting at which he committed the massacre was a "legitimate target" because of its support for multiculturalism.

Prosecutors said the trial was entering a "new phase" with the eyewitnesses' accounts.

The first to testify was the leader of the Labour Party's youth wing, Tonje Brenna, 24, who organised the youth event. She survived by playing dead.

Ms Brenna told the court that she and the camp management had just called a meeting after hearing about the Oslo bomb attack when she heard what she thought were fireworks going off.

"I was on the phone. I said: 'Someone has a bad sense of humour, they're fooling around'," she said

"I ran full speed towards what I thought were firecrackers. At the bend of the road, beyond the cafe building, two or three people in front of me fell to the ground. I thought immediately they'd been shot then I shouted out on phone: 'There's shooting at Utoeya'."

Ms Brenna previously told a Norwegian TV programme that Breivik laughed and shouted triumphantly as he went around the island shooting the victims. Breivik denies this, according to Norwegian media.

Also giving evidence on Wednesday will be Oddvar Hansen, a boat owner who rescued survivors from the lake around the island, and Bjoern Ihler, who managed to escape Utoeya by swimming away.

Breivik has said his plan was to kill as many people as possible by scaring them into drowning in the lake, Tirifjoerden.

Last Friday, the court began hearing coroners' reports on those killed at the Utoeya youth camp.

Of the 69 people who died on the small island, 67 were shot dead, one died in a fall and another drowned.

Coroner Torleiv Ole Rognum said the average age of the victims was 18.

Before the attack on Utoeya, Breivik carried out a car bomb attack on a government building in Oslo, in which eight people died.

The trial's outcome hinges on whether the court finds Breivik to have been sane or not, as it could determine whether he is sent to prison or to a psychiatric institution if found guilty.

An initial psychiatrists' report on Breivik declared him insane and not legally responsible, but a second evaluation came to the opposite conclusion.

Breivik seeks to prove he was sane, in order to prove his actions were motivated by a political doctrine.

Source: BBC News  

Related Stories

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Share

Twitter Delicious Facebook Digg Stumbleupon Favorites More