OSLO – Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik slammed the court Tuesday, saying his trial was centering too much on his mental state and not enough on politics and those who lost their lives.
The anti-Muslim fanatic has admitted to killing 77 people on July 22 in a bombing-and-shooting spree but denies criminal guilt because he considers the victims traitors of Norway for supporting immigration.
"It's quite sad that the monster of Norwegian court psychiatry has managed to take over this case. It should have been about the victims and their families, and about the political basis and causes," Breivik told the court. "Because July 22 is not about psychiatry, but about Norway's and Europe's future."
Despite his claim, Breivik's sanity, still an unresolved issue, is key to the case against him.
If found guilty and sane, the 33-year-old would face 21 years in prison, although he could be held even longer if deemed a danger to society. If declared insane, he would be committed to compulsory psychiatric care.
The subject was re-examined Monday and Tuesday in the last week of the trial at Oslo District Court, which will have to decide about Breivik's mental state after hearing two contradictory reports.
Psychiatrists who found him delusional and too mentally unfit to go to prison have faced intense criticism. Last week, they defended their 239-page report, which concluded that Breivik suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, is driven by delusions rather than political conviction and resembles people who believe they are the new Napoleon.
Their report came under fire for lacking knowledge of right-wing terminology and for interpreting Breivik's political explanations for his rampage as symptoms of schizophrenia. The court then ordered a second evaluation by other psychiatrists, who came to the opposite conclusion, deeming him sufficiently mentally competent to go to prison.
Breivik killed eight people by setting off a homemade car bomb in Oslo's government district and then shot and killed 69 people, mostly teenagers, attending a youth camp on the island of Utoya.
The right-wing extremist insists he belongs to a Europe-wide anti-Muslim network called the Knights Templar, and said those he killed were traitors to Norway for embracing immigration. Police have not found any evidence of such a group.
Breivik spoke extensively at the outset of the trial, ignoring the judge's instructions to concentrate on his crimes instead of using the court as a platform to rage against Muslims and the Norwegian Labor Party. He has asked to speak again on June 22 ,the final day of the trial.
Closing arguments are expected on June 21 and 22, with a verdict expected in July or August.
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