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| Europe |
| Breivik Resists Being Labeled Insane |
| 2012-01-15 |
| A judge in Norway ordered Friday that confessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik be given another psychiatric evaluation amid criticism and doubts over a previous diagnosis of insanity. Breivik will now undergo more tests by two doctors to determine whether he is of sound mind and therefore able to stand trial for the July 22 bombing and shooting rampage in Norway that killed 77 people, most of them young people. It was the Scandinavian nation’s worst peacetime massacre and left the nation stunned by the carnage and Breivik’s fanatical right-wing, anti-Muslim views. In November, a psychiatric assessment concluded that Breivik was clinically insane at the time of the attacks, a finding that would most likely entail medical treatment and internment for him rather than a full trial and imprisonment. But the diagnosis came under heavy public criticism, including from some experts who questioned whether a deranged man could orchestrate such a well-planned attack. Breivik has confessed to setting off a massive car bomb in the center of Norway that served as a diversion while he went out to the nearby island of Utoya where, dressed as a police officer, he gunned down dozens of youths at a political summer camp. On Friday, Judge Wenche Elizabeth Arntzen in Oslo, the Norwegian capital, told reporters that the conflicting opinions warranted her order of a second evaluation for Breivik, 32. Breivik has rejected descriptions of himself as psychotic or insane. He says that his methodical rampage had a clear-headed goal: to inspire “indigenous” Christian Europeans to rise up in a revolution to throw out Muslim settlers on the continent. Shortly before the attacks, he posted a manifesto hundreds of pages long referring to himself as a crusading “knight” and urging Christians to join him in reclaiming Europe. After surrendering to police on Utoya, Breivik confessed readily to the killings. But he admits no criminal responsibility for them. Despite efforts to sweep him under the rug, he is still fighting the Norwegian government, and they are deeply frightened of him and what he says. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #3 In AGW/Moderate Islam/Keynesian Economics/Human rights/ world he's barely mildly disturbed. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2012-01-15 16:53 |
| #2 "In all cases, there will be lots of opportunities for Breivik to spout and cause further distress and embarrassment to the government, and possibly sway other Norwegians to interest in what he was fighting, namely immigrants and the far socialist/communist left." Popcorn alert, 'moose? |
| Posted by: Barbara 2012-01-15 15:25 |
| #1 A criminal trial is a real gamble for the government. At first, he will be tried in the Tingretten, or District Court (all felony cases since 1995). "Regular trials are usually held before a panel of three judges, one professional and two lay judges. In particularly difficult cases the bench may consist of five judges (two professional and three lay (non-lawyer) judges). "Verdicts and sentences are determined by a majority vote, with the lay judges' votes counting the same as the professional judge." So this means his *first* trial will have two Norwegians selected like jurors as two of three, or three of five judges. Then his almost automatic appeal to the Lagmannsretten, or Appeals Court. "In criminal cases where more than six years of prison can be handed down, the court will have a jury of ten people deciding the guilt, as well as three professional judges who preside over the case and determine sentencing. In order to convict, at least seven of the jury members need to vote for conviction. The verdict of the jury is usually final, but can be overturned by the professional judges who then order a retrial." From there it could very well go to the Norwegian Supreme Court, or the always-hoping-to-interfere European Court of Human Rights. In all cases, there will be lots of opportunities for Breivik to spout and cause further distress and embarrassment to the government, and possibly sway other Norwegians to interest in what he was fighting, namely immigrants and the far socialist/communist left. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2012-01-15 14:40 |