[ 2012-08-24 ]

Anders Breivik

Norway killer Anders Breivik ruled sane, given 21-year prison term
Anders Behring Breivik, the man who killed 77
people in a bomb attack and gun rampage just over
a year ago, was found to be sane Friday by a
Norwegian court, as he was sentenced to 21 years
in prison.

Breivik was charged with voluntary homicide and
committing acts of terror over the attacks in Oslo
and Utoya Island on July 22, 2011.

The issue of Breivik's sanity, on which mental
health experts have given conflicting opinions,
was central to the court's ruling.

Breivik, who boasts of being an ultranationalist
who killed his victims to fight multiculturalism
in Norway, wanted to be ruled sane so that his
actions weren't dismissed as those of a madman.

He says he acted out of "necessity" to prevent the
"Islamization" of his country.

But prosecutors had asked that Breivik, 33, be
acquitted on the grounds of insanity, in which
case he would have been held in a secure mental
health unit.

The unanimous verdict was delivered at Oslo
district court by a panel of five judges.

Breivik, dressed in a dark suit and tie, had a
slight smile on his face as the decision was
given.

He was sentenced to the maximum possible term of
21 years and was ordered to serve a minimum of 10
years in prison. The time he has already spent in
prison counts toward the term.

In the course of the 10-week trial, which wrapped
up in June, the court heard chilling evidence from
some of those who survived Breivik's shooting
spree on Utoya Island, in which 69 people died --
most of them teenagers attending a Labour Party
summer youth camp.

In his own testimony, given without any display of
emotion, Breivik recounted firing more bullets
into teenagers who were injured and couldn't
escape, killing those who tried to "play dead" and
driving others into the sea to drown.

His fertilizer bomb attack against government
buildings in Oslo also killed eight people and
injured many more.

He blamed the Labour Party for promoting
multiculturalism in Norway.

Breivik has been held in Ila Prison since his
detention after the killings.

Defense lawyer Geir Lippestad has previously said
it is important to Breivik that people see him as
sane so they don't dismiss his views.

During his trial, Breivik promised that he would
not appeal if a court finds him sane and guilty.
He is likely to appeal if he is acquitted on the
grounds of insanity.

Breivik's rampage, the worst atrocity on Norwegian
soil since World War II, prompted much
soul-searching.

Norwegians reasserted their commitment to
multiculturalism and tolerance at a series of mass
public tributes held in the immediate aftermath of
the massacre.

And earlier this month, Norway's chief of police
stepped down after an independent commission
detailed a catalog of police and intelligence
failures.

It concluded that those errors cost police 30
minutes in getting to Utoya, and that dozens of
lives might have been saved.

Speaking last month on the anniversary of the
killings, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg urged
Norwegians to "honor the dead by celebrating
life," and said Breivik had failed in his attempt
to change Norway's values.

Source - CNN

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