Anders Breivik Trial: I Was Motivated By Good Not Evil, Killer Tells Courtroom

The Huffington Post UK  |  By Posted: 17/04/2012 09:43 Updated: 17/04/2012 17:04

Anders Breivik said he "would do it all again because he was motivated by goodness, not evil" as he read out a statement explaining why he massacred 77 people in Norway last year.

The 33-year-old, addressing the Oslo court on Tuesday, said his bombing campaign and shooting spree was the "most sophisticated and spectacular political attack seen in Europe" since World War II.

The killer's testimony 30-minute testimony was not broadcast so as not to give a platform to his extreme views. However press were allowed to stay in court and report his views, and his full statement will be available later.

The self-confessed killer also referred to Hitler, saying the last time Europe had a democracy the genocidal dictator was in charge.


Matthew Price
starts Evidence by returning to ww2 "what happened the last time a real democracy came to power? Hitler was in charge"

CLICK HERE FOR MORE TWEETS FROM THE COURTROOM

The far-right extremist told the court he had "lowered the rhetoric" out of consideration for his victims.

"They try to claim that I fell out of work life, that I am a mean and loser, they have also claimed that I am a narcissist. There is a claim that I am a pathetic child killer, despite not being accused of killing anyone under 14."

The killer claimed: "People who call me evil have misunderstood", and that "violent reaction" was the only solution to multiculturalism.

"It is as wrong to call me evil as to call the US commanders that during WWII when they decided to drop the Bomb," he said, adding that he did not regret the atrocities he committed.

He said 69% of British people had an issue with immigration.

Breivik ended his hour-long rant asking for an acquittal, saying he "acted to defend my country and my people."


Fredrik Walløe
Breivik refers to murdering defenseless children as a 'spectacular assassination'. øya


Trygve Sorvaag
says he did this to save futre generations. His actions based on godness not evil.

Earlier in the dramatic trial a judge was dismissed after calling for the 33-year-old to face the death penalty on facebook shortly after the killer massacred 77 people last July.

The court was adjourned for 30 minutes as judges held an emergency meeting, before the judge ruled Thomas Indrebo's online comments would "weaken the trust in his impartiality" and dismissed him as a lay judge.

"The fact that Mr Indebro did not state that he had given such impressions will weaken the case in his impartiality. Mr Indebro shall be dismissed as a lay judge," Wenche Arntzen said.

He will be replaced by Anne Wisloff.

The Norwegian killer had smiled as the court's judge raised concerns over the impartiality of Indrebo.

"The death penalty is the only just sentence in this case!!!!!!!!!!" the message read.


Fredrik Walløe
Breivik's testimony today will be filmed, but cannot be broadcast. The text will be made available. øya



Fredrik Walløe
Judges are to make a decision on whether the lay judge should be replaced; court with reconvene in 30 minutes.

Breivik pleaded not guilty to the twin attacks on Monday, saying he acknowledged the bombing and massacre but carried them out because of "self defence."

The 33-year-old made a far-right salute as he arrived at the Oslo courtroom, and interrupted proceedings to say that he does not recognise the Norwegian court.


Breivik sipped water as horrific details of his mass killings were read out in court

Breivik showed no emotion as a court read out gruesome details of the 77 people he murdered - but a 12 minute propaganda film outlining his beliefs caused the self-confessed killer to weep.

He later said he was weeping for his country.

Wearing a dark suit and metallic-coloured tie, he looked down and touched his chin as the gruesome details of their deaths were read out.


He told the judge: "I do not recognise the Norwegian courts"

Some of the details of the murders and injuries were so horrific the Norwegian media bleeped them out.


The killer wipes away a tear as the court sees his propaganda video

He also displayed no emotion when he was played a tape of a 22-year-old Renate Taarnes's terrified phone call to police during the Utoya attack, where she whispered: "He's coming! He's coming."

Overall 102 names, dates of births and details of those Breivik killed and injures were read in court over 30 minutes.

At court yesterday Breivik's defence lawyer Geir Lippestad said evidence from the killer would be crucial "for the court to decide on an independent basis whether he is legally sane and can be punished or not."

He said Breivik wished to be sentenced as a sane person, stressing: "The defendant's wish is to be sentenced as a legally sane person. So our evidence will support that claim."

BLOG: Inside the Mind of Anders Breivik - The Norwegian on Trial for Mass Murder

PROFILE: 21st Century Crusader Battling Against Islam In Europe

MORE DETAILS: Killer Is Not Lawyer Geir Lippestad's First Unpopular Client

One of the survivors of the massacre Jorid Nordmelan, who will hear Breivik testify, said the trial was unprecedented.

"It's a historical date for Norwegians," she told the BBC. "We never had a trial like this, so we don't know what's going to happen.


Armed police walk in the street outside the Oslo district courtroom

"Prosecutors told me they were going to make the opening statements awful, so that people can just feel what he did right there."

He is due to give evidence for five days, explaining why he set off a bomb in Oslo, killing eight, before gunning down 69 people, mostly teenagers, at a Labour Party youth camp on Utoya island, outside the Norwegian capital.


The police van with terror charged Anders Behring Breivik leaves the Ila prison in Baerum, Norway

Since Breivik has confessed to the July 22 attacks - claiming they were necessary to protect Norway from being taken over by Muslims - the key issue that remains unresolved is his mental health.

Breivik attempted to justify his views in a 1,500-page manifesto published on the internet before the atrocities.


Prosecutors showed images of Breivik taken from his manifesto. A badge on the uniform read "Marxist Hunter"

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Anders Breivik said he "would do it all again because he was motivated by goodness, not evil" as he read out a statement explaining why he massacred 77 people in Norway last year. The 33-year-old,...
Anders Breivik said he "would do it all again because he was motivated by goodness, not evil" as he read out a statement explaining why he massacred 77 people in Norway last year. The 33-year-old,...
 
 
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11:16 AM on 04/18/2012
The simple truth is... this guy in Norway, as with his counterparts elsewhere, is a KILLER, he slaughters defenceless people for his self satisfaction and aggrandisement.

He has a totally emotionless attitude to the deaths he has dealt out, he is cold and calculating. murder is his by-word, assassination his 'game'.

Whilst we SHOULD witness his trial, without doubt he is revelling in his infamy, especially as he is confident his life will not be taken in response to his actions.
Allowing him a level of 'freedom' as he sits there smirking, unshackled, gives the impression he is actually controlling the proceedings. For that I blame the Norwegian system that treats this person as a common criminal when we all know that is something he certainly is not.

In all truth, no system of jurisprudence has the means, or methods, to deal with such crimes, and therefore a serious overhaul of our western legal process is urgently required.
11:59 AM on 04/18/2012
It's interesting that, as you say, he is unshackled. I would have thought that given he has admitted to 77 murders, he should at least be in a prison uniform and shackled, if not behind bulletproof glass or in a cage. There is no question of his guilt regardless of whatever is going on in his own head. It must be very annoying to the families of his victims, as it is to most of us, that he is allowed to wear a suit and appears to be comfortable in his surroundings.
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rabidrightwatch
Green lefty & active environmentalist
12:40 PM on 04/18/2012
and your 'serious overhaul of our western legal process' would entail what, precisely..??

Each individual legal system is different, and the Norwegian is significantly more enlightened and advanced than most, so what's your solution..??
01:06 PM on 04/18/2012
A new set of legal parameters to ensure such atrocities are dealt with as separate and isolated incidents.
Up to quite recently, there has never really been this sort of slaughter where innocent victims have been randomly murdered in bulk, so to speak,

Legislation has never caught up with such activity, which is only 'normally' seen in war situations, for example the recent event when a military person for whatever reason, pro per the recent event in Afghanistan where a soldier wiped out some civilians.
We are now playing a totally different game, but using a rule book suited only to a game that is disciplined, for a game in which anything goes.

Time to re write that rule book, taking account of acts that go far beyond all we have come to expect, and for which those laws were never drawn up.
01:15 PM on 04/18/2012
Further....

Most western nations, and many more have basically similar legal laws.

Amending them to accommodate the mass murder of randomly selected persons can easily be slotted into existing legislation.
Personally I would put a sentence of death on such killers, simply because they have not one shred of justification for their act.

Stater retribution, by jailing such people does NOT satisfy any sort of natural justice, it amplifies the fact these idiots believe they can literally get away with their onslaught.

Bleeding heart liberals can bleed, maybe if and when they are caught to in the next atrocious death spree, their liberal affectation will be so challenged as to relieve them of their laissez fair attitude to the suffering of others.
08:19 AM on 04/18/2012
Anyone and everyone is entitled to their own opinion about any subject
And surely you are allowed to express your opinion
But equally surely, there is something terribly wrong with your reasoning if
you then kill 77 people to express your ideas.
What gives you the right to kill one person, let alone 77?
And, having done this, the man sits in a court in Oslo, knowing still that he was right
to do so and everyone else is wrong
cantabria
my default position is wrong
09:49 AM on 04/18/2012
Try saying it on here though!
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
ccraiglamont
Sometimes funny, other times...not!
07:49 AM on 04/18/2012
Breivik claims his actions were a political statement yet he completely ignored the democratic and diplomatic political process to express his concerns about mass immigration and the spread of Islam into the western world.
Because of this his actions cannot be deemed political.
That wrecks his defence doesn't it?
cantabria
my default position is wrong
09:49 AM on 04/18/2012
Politics isn't only democracy.
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gimmeanamethen
saying it like it is
01:52 AM on 04/18/2012
his actions in the court just confirm to everyone what a complete basket case the guy is.

to me he looks like a butler that can't get anyone to hire him
10:59 PM on 04/17/2012
Whatever this man's views are, whatever anyone else's views about immigration or multiculturalism may be, since when does it make sense to murder 77 innocent people, how exactly does that support any kind of reasoned argument? Unless you already have the mentality and values of the SS, how could anyone agree with such an a terrible crime or see it as anything other than a demented act by someone who did not respect the right of any of his young victims to live their own life - and form their own opinions about politics and their future, as he did? Unless you are threatened with immediate physical injury yourself, it is never justifiable to end someone else's life, let alone when it is just to make a political point. It achieves absolutely nothing, as anyone who might possibly agree with some of this man's extreme views would hardly be more convinced that they were right by seeing such an act - and for the rest of us it only serves to confirm what we already know about such people.
cantabria
my default position is wrong
08:09 AM on 04/18/2012
Interesting that you could say what you have said, but I couldn't reply to it with some sort of explanation, not a justification.
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09:29 PM on 04/17/2012
Wow if you read this comment page. You could easily think that Anders Brevivik has support in great britain. Well let me put you all in the right picture. This man is a deluded monster. He should be tryed found guilty. Then be given the firing squad. Take a look at the beautifull young faces he destroyed. He is disgusting. Who cares what type of salute he done. Europeans are being denied justice. Why because we have no death penalty. Who can seriously say that anders breivik deserves to live.
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09:43 PM on 04/17/2012
You are, like many others here, confusing vengeance with justice. They are not the same thing.They understand that in Norway.
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Barbara Longstaff
10:37 PM on 04/17/2012
No not vengence Justice a life for a life - if you take a life then you should lose your own, but these days there is no deterrent what have these criminals got to losel
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10:56 PM on 04/17/2012
Thank you, cruixman, the voice of reason! I agree with every word!
08:52 PM on 04/17/2012
Why is it being called a far-right salute? BBC has an article on that salute being used by people across the political spectrum.
09:03 PM on 04/17/2012
The article I think you're refering to makes it quite clear that it's a left-wing salute, and also a salute used by blacks, originating from their struggle for freedom in the 1960s.

The fact the establishment already knows it and has articles saying as much, but still insist on calling it a 'far-right' salute indicates to me they are trying to tarnish any anti-immigration ideas through the actions of Breivik.
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10:15 PM on 04/17/2012
The origin and past use of the clenched fist salute is irrelevant. The guy is a self confessed rightwinger.
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MJinCanada
Safe from zombies until my 2nd cup of coffee
03:19 AM on 04/18/2012
You are wrong, wrong, wrong.

The clenched fist straight out in front is a Nazi salute.

The gesture used by blacks, labourers and women suffragettes was a fist raised in the air.
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10:50 PM on 04/17/2012
Trusting the BBC to tell you the truth is a bit naive I'm afraid. They, like every state propaganda machine have their own agenda which may or may not always agree with yours or mine.
07:32 PM on 04/18/2012
Why would the BBC do a favor for an anti-Muslim, anti-immigration non-Left winger when the BBC is openly controlled by the establishment left/center-left?

They aren't doing him any favors, just presenting something that interferes with your narrative.
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07:54 PM on 04/17/2012
OK, he had his day in court. Can we beat him with a stick now?

(Sigh...yeah...I know...but oh, the urge is strong.)
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Robert Lovelace
Texan against Cruz, Perry, Gohmert, ...
11:22 AM on 04/18/2012
Not even a stick wants to be associated with that man.
07:32 PM on 04/17/2012
this man is clearly very sick in the head, Most non muslims are troubled by islam and muslims but why kill non muslims?? If he had only targeted muslims then I would understand his thinking but he has not so this was a ploy to get attention and it has worked? some people become famous for all the wrong reasons, as is this case, he will propbably write a book and make millions,

but the main question is is he one of the first to fight islam with violence and will more follow as it is quite clear that no other method is working
cantabria
my default position is wrong
07:34 AM on 04/18/2012
The Christians have been fighting islam with violence since islam appeared and started attacking christians. It's been going on for centuries, remember the crusades?
09:52 AM on 04/18/2012
problem is that some of what he says is true,but not justified by his actions. uk is being taken over by right wingers from various countries and we have no power to stop it. we all live in fear for our childrens future. if we all carried out similar actions then we would be in an even worse state. government cannot be trusted to sort the problem out as thier hands are tied.
06:20 PM on 04/17/2012
I'm not sure that he's really anti- anything. He seems to be very Pro his own country. As are most of us.
Even the immigrees I know, and have asked, have pride for the country they left!
Asked why they don't retrun if they love their own country so much?
They say: 'Because things are easier here and we can send money home!'
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07:04 PM on 04/17/2012
I'm afraid that sort of comment isn't allowed. This guy is a 'racist, fascist, far-right, Islamophobic, bigoted extremist' and all we're allowed to discuss here is whether he should be hanged, beheaded or receive a million years in prison.

Trying to understand the motivation, explain that ideology and methodology are seperate things, show that his views represent very few in the nationalist ideology, explain why democracy and freedom should be upheld to avoid breeding extremists like this - all these things are not permitted subjects.
07:27 PM on 04/17/2012
I should have added that he IS a murderer and has no excuse for what he did.
07:29 PM on 04/17/2012
It's sepArate! Not sepErate.
05:45 PM on 04/17/2012
I am concerned that the trial and its publicity it might serve as a platform for his views or more accurately a rallying to spark copycat actions around the world....justice must be seen to be served swiftly and coldly in this particular case
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rabidrightwatch
Green lefty & active environmentalist
05:23 PM on 04/17/2012
The following quote from the article says it all - for me, anyway:

"The self-confessed killer also referred to Hitler, saying the last time Europe had a democracy the genocidal dictator was in charge".

This is truly wall-eyed thinking;
anyone who can equate the two must be seriously warped in his/her thinking.

...and to say, in open court, that he would 'do it all over again & he did it out of goodness, not evil' only leads me to the conclusion that he's indoctrinated so much in far-right blurb and bluster, that reality is a distant concept for him..

Unfortunately, Europe and the US have quite a few such people coming out of the woodwork, seeking to save us all from whatever it is they're frightened of... poor deluded people..

Mature, stable democracies can stand turmoil and criticism, but the many and various bow-and-arrow gangs on the extreme right of politics are dangerous.. very dangerous.

We ignore them at our peril..
07:41 PM on 04/17/2012
was it goodness? i live in birmingham, and when i moved into my current house it was a affluent middle class area, then the muslim invasion came, mosque on every corner with loud speakers, high crime rate, dirty litter infested streets, drug dealers and even terrorist proven guilty and many other problems that seem to be at the centre of every area that has a high muslim community, do i really want that, or does anyone? i would never hurt or kill but anyone or anything that would solve the problems that islam is causing worldwide bring i would support
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09:29 PM on 04/17/2012
And that is happening all over the country unfortunately
05:16 PM on 04/17/2012
What can anyone say about this PIG he should have been drowned at birth, where were his parents you can't hide pure evil must have seen the warning signs. I watched him on the news It made me sick to see him smile,all we can hope that he gets what he deserves and much much more
02:15 PM on 04/18/2012
ring 1: And what sort of comments do you think would be posted here regarding a Huff Post headline such as: ''Norwegian Mother Drowns Newborn''?
04:44 PM on 04/18/2012
Look at the date I made my comment before that news was broadcast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
04:57 PM on 04/18/2012
ring1: What news?