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BREIVIK

Breivik demands last word at trial

Confessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik has requested a full hour in which to present his closing remarks at his trial this Friday.

Breivik demands last word at trial
File photo: Heiko Junge/Scanpix

The 33-year-old right-wing extremist, on trial for dual terrorist attacks that left 77 people dead last summer, said he wanted to use his right as a defendant to have the last word in the Oslo courtroom.  

“I’d like you to set aside an hour for closing remarks on June 22nd. I doubt I’ll need that much time, but I'd like you to set it aside anyway,” Breivik told Judge Wenche Arntzen.

The 33-year-old right-wing extremist also complained that too much time had been devoted to psychiatrists arguing whether or not he was sane when he set of a car bomb in Oslo on July 22nd last year, killing eight people, before shooting dead a further 69 people, mostly teenagers, on Utøya island.

“This isn’t about psychiatry; it’s about the future of Norway and Europe,” he said, before pointing out what he viewed as errors in the psychiatric reports.  

Breivik has claimed to be on a crusade against a “Muslim invasion”.

The question of Breivik’s sanity is central to the case, and two teams of psychiatrists have reached opposing conclusions.

If the court finds he was sane, he is likely to face the maximum sentence of 21 years, a punishment that may be extended if he is still considered a danger to society.

If deemed insane, a fate he wants to avoid, Breivik will instead face closed psychiatric care, possibly for life.

Judges are expected to present their verdict on either July 20th or August 24th.

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BREIVIK

Norway mosque shooter ‘has admitted the facts’: Police

A Norwegian man suspected of killing his step sister and opening fire in a mosque near Oslo last weekend, has admitted to the crimes though he has not officially entered a plea, police said on Friday.

Norway mosque shooter 'has admitted the facts': Police
Philip Manshaus appears in court on August 12. Photo: Cornelius Poppe / NTB Scanpix / AFP
Philip Manshaus, 21, was remanded in custody Monday, suspected of murder and a “terrorist act” that police say he filmed himself committing.
   
Answering police questions on Friday, “the suspect admits the facts but has not taken a formal position as to the charges,” Oslo police official Pal-Fredrik Hjort Kraby said in a statement.
   
Manshaus is suspected of murdering his 17-year-old step sister Johanne Zhangjia Ihle-Hansen, before entering the Al-Noor mosque in an affluent Oslo suburb and opening fire before he was overpowered by a 65-year-old man.
   
Just three worshippers were in the mosque at the time, and there were no serious injuries.
   
Manshaus appeared in court this week with two black eyes and scrapes and bruises to his face, neck and hands.
   
Police have said he has “extreme right views” and “xenophobic positions” and that he had filmed the mosque attack with a camera mounted on a helmet. He had initially denied the accusations.
   
The incident came amid a rise in white supremacy attacks around the world, including the recent El Paso massacre in the United States.
   
Norway witnessed one of the worst-ever attacks by a rightwing extremist in July 2011, when Anders Behring Breivik, who said he feared a “Muslim invasion”, killed 77 people in a truck bomb blast near government offices in Oslo and a shooting spree at a Labour Party youth camp on the island of Utøya.