• Norway edition

Breivik's tears flow on first day of trial

Published: 16 Apr 2012 12:18 GMT+02:00 | Print version
Updated: 16 Apr 2012 17:13 GMT+02:00

Norwegian gunman Anders Behring Breivik's tears in court Monday as prosecutors showed a film he made to explain his anti-Islam ideology were linked to his fears over an ongoing war in Europe, his lawyer said.

Breivik's main lawyer, Geir Lippestad, told reporters he appeared to have cried over his feelings that his attacks last July were "cruel but necessary ... to save Europe from an ongoing war. Those were the feelings he was having."

The 33-year-old right-wing extremist showed little emotion during the first day of his trial even as the prosecution listed in detail how each of the 77 people he killed in twin attacks last July 22 died.

But when the prosecution showed his 12-minute film -- a short version of the 1,500-page manifesto he posted online shortly before the attacks showing still shots with ideological messages set to music -- his eyes briefly welled up and he wiped away tears.

Broadcaster TV2 Nyhetskanalen, which said it had used lip-reading to interpret a discussion between Breivik and another of his lawyers, Vibeke Hein Baere, after his tears, reported he confided to her that it was an "emotional film."

"It's OK, it's fine. It's just that it's an emotional film," he reportedly said.

At a press conference after the first trial day ended, Hein Baere refused to confirm the comments.

AFP (news@thelocal.no)

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2012-04-16 15:38:14 by herbert
I take no position on the trial and am not familiar with Norwegian law. Nevertheless, here is omething to ponder: Breivik claims he acted out of necessity to protect Norwegian (and Western society) which is at war with Islam. and that sometimes innocents must die . Put to one side the orthodox Islamic view that Islam IS at eternal war with infidels – Dar al Harb – . Now consider this: during WW II the Norwegian resistance sank the ferry, the SF Hydro, in Lake Tinnsjø to keep heavy water from falling into German hands. At the time they knowingly killed a number of innocent passengers in the process. While not completely analogous, there are some material elements of analogy which support Behring ‘s position. Is the only difference that Norway had declared war? For better or worse his tiral raises very serious questions.
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2012-04-16 18:31:43 by herbert
A friend of my mine sent me the following response, which I thought was pretty good, so I am taking the liberty of posting his response. While I think it partially begs the question, it get very close to the issue. "I too am unfamiliar with Norwegian law, but certain concepts are familiar. Although killing is common to both war and murder, we view the former as acceptable and the latter, usually, in Western cultures, as unacceptable. I note that the concept of honor killings exists as an idea, and is accepted in a few places, but even honor killings are considered murder in civilized societies and many of the other members of the United Nations. The political problem for the defendant is that he is claiming for himself the right to decide against whom his society will wage war; such claims are frequently treated badly by sovereigns, who view that sort of decision making as their sole prerogative. Whether you call it the unauthorized waging of war (murder, piracy, what have you) or the simple execution of socially undesirable persons (vigilante justice, murder) the sort of “individual adventurism” displayed is wholly unacceptable."
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2012-04-20 21:25:30 by nathan45
I'm a very right wing person who is completely against immigration and even I think what Breivik did was disgusting. All he did was make people like me look bad and Hurt innocent people.
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